As Luck Ud Have It: Canon City and Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

From Capulin we drove to Canon City, Colorado, and stopped for 2 nights in Mountain View RV Park on Hwy 50 about 6 miles west of the city. We took the jeep up the Gold Belt Tour with varying road conditions through Cripple Creek, Victor, and Phantom Canyon.
We stopped in Cripple Creek for coffee and to walk through town and visit the district museum. A very friendly museum docent gave us a long spiel about Cripple Creek, the fire in 1886, and the area's gold mining history. Cripple Creek was a thriving mining town until the 1970s and '80s when it was considered almost a ghost town. Since the establishment of legalized gambling it has became more of a gambling and tourist town. Almost every store front now houses a casino.
The old underground gold mines are all exhausted but open pit mining has been done in the area since 1994. The town of Victor lies at the base of the largest gold mine in the state.
From Victor the drive down through Phantom Canyon was an adventure in itself. The route follows 1890s stage and railroad lines on an unpaved, winding road with steep drop-offs which were slow going and uneasy when cars approached.

Downtown Cripple Creek

Click to enlarge

Largest pit gold mine seen from American Eagles Scenic Overlook

Original American Eagles underground mine (overlook to pit mine). Senic view included Pikes Peak.

Victor, Colorado, at base of pit mine

From Canon City we traveled west on Hwy 50 (past entry to Royal Gorge...it seems to be an expensive theme park now). The road follows the Arkansas river to Salida (we tent camped here in 1990 on the way to Oregon) and then climbs to Monarch Pass at 11,300 feet. What an exhausting climb for the poor Itasca, and what a white knuckle drive both up and down for Trent! After a short rest we continued through Gunnison and the Curecanti Nat'l Rec area, and then up 327 to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We stayed one night in the south rim campground. We had electricity but no water, wifi, or cell access. It was inexpensive at $9/night with our wonderful senior pass. We were warned that black bears are commonly seen along the South Rim but all we spotted during our stay were deer, chipmunks, and bunnies. We took the south rim drive to several overlooks. The canyon was gorgeous. We both think it's prettier than the views of Grand Canyon we had from the north rim 2 years ago. Our pictures are not so great because the natural light was not shining towards the north and apparently we are not smart enough to figure out how to adjust the light on our Cannon!