Eric's photo blog site. You can start w/ link BEST OF POSTS at the top, or open any posting below. Once in a blog entry, you will see a list of all 150+ blog posts going back over 3 years. Each blog post has an average of 12 photos per blog entry. Nearly all photos taken from the saddle of my fat bike or mountain bike.
Victor is town close to Cripple Creek whose history is almost entirely around the Gold mining in the region. It is full of old buildings mostly in disrepair and empty. This is where I spent 3 days in the Victor Hotel, a historical building put up in 1899 after the big fire burned all other structures, and the town was rebuilt with brick by city rule. The hotel was very nice and a good deal for a historic landmark hotel. Up over the big hill from town is a number of abandoned mine sites, and the beginning of the huge Newmont gold mine just north.
Above: the historic Victor Hotel. It has only 12 rooms to rent out. Two of the floors have Newmont Employee offices. There is also a corner office for Newmont one block south.There are over a hundred buildings in town and 90% are vacant and dusty. There is a general store, a bakery, 4-6 souvenir shops, 2 bars and the Victor Hotel. A bike ride throughout town revealed many houses also vacant.The many historic mines were underground mines, and this is the headframe structure that removed ore and transported men and materials up and down. This is now just a rusty frame.Above, looking Northeast from Victor Pass. Everything here is around 10K ft altitude much like Leadville.An area called Goldfield. It’s on the map at it once was a large town.Someone who hikes a lot in town, also created these cairns. There is a lot of falling rock on this abandoned railroad trail. I saw many of these throughout the town and surrounding trails.Cairns are used as trail markers in many parts of the world, in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, as well as in barren deserts and tundra. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to delicately balanced sculptures and elaborate feats of megalithic engineering.Victor Colorado from the Ajax Trail overlook.Home sweet home – I was in the top corner room with a view at the Victor Hotel shown in the sun.Abandoned Train Station. This town used to be a transportation hub.Downtown Victory Newmont Mining Offices.
