Black Eagle Mine in Idaho Springs, CO

Sunday was a beautiful day here in the mountains, and I got to spend most of it OUTSIDE!! I’ve been itching to get out and work in the yard, but I have been so busy with my sewing business transition that I haven’t had many free moments in recent weeks.  It was Memorial Day weekend, and I was thrilled to have a free day to spend outside.  I’ve been sewing every Sunday for months now, with Shabbat being my only day off each week.  Now that June is here, I am now working from home all but one day a week, which I’ll be spending at Bits and Pieces.  This is my first week of the new expanded sewing schedule, and I’m finally getting caught up on some things (including blogging!!)  The windows have been open, I’m eating lunch in the sun, and sewing for hours and hours at a time.

Which brings me back to the outside air….we made some good progress on “reclaiming” our yard and the beautiful stone landscaping.  I spent alot of time weeding and uprooting grass so that I could plant some new perennial flowers.  Everything just started budding and blooming here in the Rocky Mountains a few weeks ago, and now there are fresh green leaves and beautiful blossoms everywhere!  I’ll have to take pictures of the yard in a few weeks when it fills out with new growth.

Old power lines…they don’t make them quite like this any more!

After spending all day in the yard, with occasional thoughts ruminating regarding the possible hikes we could take straight from our house, I suggested that we just take a walk up the road behind our house.  It was already 5, but the sun would still be up for hours (it happened to stay up just long enough, until we got back about 9!).  I had only been up Black Eagle Road once since we bought the house two Septembers ago; I was alone and had turned around after encountering private driveways and a steep, rocky road up the mountain (in bear and mountain lion country!).  Now I was curious to see more of what’s up there.  So, Mark and I set off up the road that cuts into the hillside directly above the back of our house, and that serves the 5 or 6 neighboring houses above us.

Black Eagle Mill

Here’s some background: Idaho Springs was the site of heavy gold mining in the late 1800′s and saw mining activity on some of these sites well into the 20th century. Evidence of mining is all over the place in our area; exploratory holes, closed off mine shafts, abandoned buildings, old dirt roads, rusty machinery….and I love it all! We live in such an interesting place rich with a combination of history and nature. Our house sits on a mining claim across the street from Chicago Creek, and we can see the Black Eagle Mill just across and down from us where they used to process gold ore from surrounding mines.  The Black Eagle Mine is towards the top of the hillside behind our house, and used to be connected to the Mill by cable car.  The cable was still intact until the 1970′s, when a helicopter got tangled and took it out.  We got to see one remaining bucket that used to make the trip up and down at the cable house adjacent to the mine.

This is the midpoint of the cable car run; notice the green mill directly in line with the cable supports.

The Last Bucket.

It’s hard to see in this shot, but Mark is looking at a set of rail tracks that leads down the main shaft of the Black Eagle (in the dark lower left hand corner).

I think the old abandoned machinery and the variety of colors of the patina on aged metal fascinates me the most about mining ruins.  I find a beauty in the aging and decaying process that is difficult for me to describe.

I already want to hike back up there! I can believe that I have so many awesome places to to explore right out my back door.  I took a BUNCH more pictures of the mining ruins…visit my Flickr set to see them all, and stay tuned for a follow up post with my favorite “art shots” from the hike.