Seeing a flow of Harleys heading up Ute pass we decided to pass on Pike’s Peak today and head to the other side of the mountain where gold was found in them there hills. As we passed the Pike’s Peak turnoff we keep seeing motorcycles and after doing a quick search figured out we picked the same day as a veteran ride to Cripple Creek. After several traffic jams we made it to the visitor center outside of Cripple Creek and stopped.

The visitor center also has a nice museum focused on the gold mining that made this area a boom in the late 1800’s, which is where the slogan ‘Pike’s Peak or Bust’ came from. After talking to the nice lady at the tourist information section of the heritage museum, we decided to take a gravel road over to Victor, the sister town to Cripple Creek. Victor was established in 1893 on the south slopes of Battle Mountain which was considered the world’s greatest gold camp. From downtown Victor you could see about 500 headframes, the hoist system to lift ore out of the underground mines. Over $125 million worth of gold at period prices of $22 to $35 dollars an ounce. That’s over $6 billion at today’s prices!

We had lunch on Victor Avenue (main street) at the Fortune Club Diner which is housed in a building dating back to 1899 with hotel rooms upstairs. The room was keep as authentic as practical, with the tin panel celling and wooden floors. We get the impression Victor now play second fiddle to Cripple Creek tourist driven by the song recorded by The Band or the casinos that now call Cripple Creek home. Another interesting business in Victor was the Kat House Liquors & Splendid Pleasures, which we can only imagine was one of the many brothels that once were a part of the ‘World’s Greatest Gold Camp’.

Leaving Victor headed for Cripple Creek we passed the modern-day mining operations that are moving mountains. It was hard to grasp the size of these crushed stone terraces that were as high as the surrounding mountains. The dump trucks that several half ton pickup could fit into the bed with ease and that require the driver climb more than 8 foot to reach his cab. When we got to Cripple Creek motorcycles were everywhere, thousands of them. Looked like what I imagine Sturgis to look like during bike week. We just passed through town figuring we would come back when there was more mules than hogs! So the next time you listen to the ‘Up on Cripple Creek’, listen to the lyrics through the lens of a late 1800’s mining town during the Colorado gold rush boom town.

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