TR: Gilman, Colorado

[mrwaffles989]

I stopped and checked out the old Eagle Mine today.





The town of Gilman served as employee housing for the Eagle Mine. Zinc, gold, silver and other ores were mined here. It's nestled high atop a steep rugged valley, towering 1200 feet above the Eagle River. It was once home to almost 2000 people, and was offically abandoned in 1985 by order of the EPA.







The first structure I entered was an old office building.



It seems like everyone just vanished all of a sudden. Heaps of files were left lying about.









This building also had locker rooms.




I then ventured south,



to the main housing area. Here the houses were mostly dormitory styled. Some were 3 stories with 30+ bedrooms.









Discovered a playground, with a grand view of Notch Mountain.



The Rec Center must have been nice.

It had a basketball court. Someone later built a half pipe, the other side had a box and rail set.



Two bowling lanes.





I don't know what game was played in here.


I then headed down to the nearby garages/shops.













I walked along some cliffs to a neighborhood on the northside of town. I assume this is where the foreman lived because the houses were all single family homes.





The actual mining operations occurred on the cliffs and valley floor. I drove down and the gate was open.

Do not ram this one...


An adit.


Once I finally reached the main area, I was verbally made aware that I was trespassing. I took a few pics and left.









Cheers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilman,_Colorado

http://www.rockymountainprofiles.com...n_colorado.htm

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/gilman.html

[tex1230]

^^ in 20 years you'll be able to reshoot this in the boom towns of the EagleFord Shale south of San Antonio, Tx.

Awesome pics.

[gatorboy]

I've driven past there hundreds of times. Great pics. Who told you were trespassing? Did you park your car on 24? Any ghostly experiences.

[RootSkier]

Very interesting. Nice pics.

[Mazderati]

Locker room looks like something out of a horror movie.

[Art Shirk]

Really cool stuff.

[Ted Striker]

Cool pics waffles.

It's amazing how many modern ghost towns there are in North America. Kinda sad how those who profited from them aren't on the hook for the clean up.

[Smoova]

Thanks. That place always makes me think...

[GBB]

Awesome. If you were trespassing, who is the current owner?

[teletripper]

Very cool, I drive by Gilman daily (had a week long job there in 1979 also)and was just thinking the other day that I should go there and shoot some pics. Was it just the security guy in Belden (on the valley floor) that told you you were tresspassing?

[montanaskier]

current owner was Bobby Ginn and was part of his plan to develop a private ski area, Ginn sold/went out of business/ so his big money investor now owns the land and is still working slowly towards the private ski area one day.

[Blurred]

Haha, you were trespassing the whole time. Not that I care, but there are signs everywhere. I'm guessing Ray is the one who kicked you out.I've been helping out with a reclamation project down on the river the past few Summers. Awesome fishing btw. Did you make it into the big engine room across the river? It's what that bridge is to. Great photos.

[Dantheman]

Kinda sad how those who profited from them aren't on the hook for the clean up.

Most of the time they are, actually. 70% of superfund cleanup activities that have taken place to date have been financed by PRPs, and that includes the Eagle Mine. If a viable company with even a shred of a connection to a CERCLA site exists, the government will find it and they will pay (often following massive legal battles that sometimes cost more than the cleanup, but eventually they all pay). Case in point, thanks to it's, umm, "well diversified" holdings guess who paid for and continues to pay for remediation at the Eagle Mine...Viacom. Other, notable examples are ASARCO, which was bankrupted by it's environmental liabilities, and ARCO, who's acquisition of Anaconda Copper saddled it with massive environmental liabilities that were largely responsible for it's downfall as an independent company that had existed since 1866.

Great pics waffles.

[Ted Striker]

70% is better than I thought. I suppose the lack of timeliness is due to the legal battles?

[mrwaffles989]

It's impossible to get on the property without going past a No Trespassing sign.

It was some guy in a blue truck with a dog. He just said no one's allowed back here. I was like oh okay, sorry, I was just leaving. That was our entire interaction.

Haha, you were trespassing the whole time. Not that I care, but there are signs everywhere. I'm guessing Ray is the one who kicked you out.I've been helping out with a reclamation project down on the river the past few Summers. Awesome fishing btw. Did you make it into the big engine room across the river? It's what that bridge is to. Great photos.

Do you guys need more help with the reclamation project? I would help out this summer.

[mrwaffles989]

This is a great article about Gilman, Minturn, Vail, and the history of skiing in Colorado.

http://www.5280.com/magazine/2011/06...esort?page=0,0

[Dantheman]

I suppose the lack of timeliness is due to the legal battles?

Quite often that's a major factor, but the 1,000's of sites in the CERCLA program vary so widely in nature, size and scope that drawing broad conclusions is difficult.

[LukeS]

Nice work Mr. Waffles. Looks like unemployment is treatin you well.

[supermodel159]

current owner was Bobby Ginn and was part of his plan to develop a private ski area, Ginn sold/went out of business/ so his big money investor now owns the land and is still working slowly towards the private ski area one day.

If anyone knows the current owner, can you PM me the information.

[Badger]

I'm amazed that place is still in such good shape, being so accessible from the road. We have some cool art photography taken there we bought at a show at the National Mining Museum a few years back - all spooky chairs covered in snow and such.

[couloirman]

Sick, I've always wanted to go in there. Let's do a night mission. I might need to wear a diaper, but it wouldn't be the first time...