In light of the events last month, mining continues to be a topic of discussion in my house. Goose has been trying to grasp the disaster from the perspective of a 3-year-old. She doesn’t understand the chemical makeup of the Gold King Mine spill, the repercussions for the natural environment or how it came to be.
She understands from the most basic level things happen on purpose or on accident, or occasionally can be attributed the wrong doings of her imaginary friend. She is learning that sometimes a man in a miner’s helmet, gone a century ago, plays a bigger and more encompassing role than Mother Nature does in deciding environmental fait.
If we lived in a city and she was curious about mining, we could Google it and watch a video, or we could log on to Amazon.com, buy a green plastic gold pan and a bag of treasure loaded dirt and catch gold fever in the back yard. In some dichotomy, however, we are lucky we live in the mountains, and I have the ability to show her firsthand what mining looks like and what it means from a very personal and historical perspective to the area where I grew up, and she will too.
With that thought in mind, we headed to Silverton, not far from the epicenter of the disaster, to the Old Hundred Mine where we journeyed deep into Galena Mountain and took on a trip back a 143 years in time. What started out in 1872 as the Niegold Brothers mine then in 1904 changed hands, becoming the Old Hundred gold and silver mine, has now become an educational gem providing visitors with a authentic and hands on look at mining in the area. While many of the area elementary schools include this as a field trip, if your child’s grade does not get the opportunity through school, it’s not to be missed and is a fun family outing.
Donning matching yellow jackets and white helmets, we climbed into the cumbersome miners cart and began the 1/3-mile excursion into the mine, the cold air and dripping ceiling a constant reminder that all of the comforts of home were a century away.
Our guide Brian took us along a historical and unimaginable journey through mining as we learned the hardships the miners faced trying to survive backbreaking work by candle light. As the miners chipped at away at the rock, they chiseled a place in history in these mountains and ultimately made them what they are.
I want Goose to understand the mineral veins that flow through the mountains and bleed orange across the landscape, pour out a lifeblood that has both given and taken away from the environment and man. Like some historical connect-the-dots, the mines freckle the landscape allowing us to trace our history, and that here – deep in the mountains – the San Juans wouldn’t be what they are with out the rich history mining brought with it.
Inside the 13,000-foot mountain it is impossible to imagine a different world awaited us outside. Just as we ventured back out of the mine into the bright sun, it became understandable that a century ago, when seekers of silver and gold came to the San Juans, they could not have anticipated the sallow reminder of their hard earned fortunes that ultimately flows through our mountains and rivers today.
If there is any sort of silver lining in the Gold King disaster, it may be that it has brought a rich, albeit environmentally disastrous, history to the forefront again. As a parent, if I can take this calamity to teach Goose that no matter how we use the land, that we have the potential to leave a footprint for hundreds of years to come. With that comes the responsibility to use the land in a respectful manner.
If I can depart unto her the significance man’s presence can leave on the land, then perhaps I can contribute to teaching the next generation of wilderness seekers that when we are considerate of the landscape, the future becomes as important as the past. If we take this disaster to learn from historical use, we will ultimately create a new legacy.
I am not sure anyone can agree on how to clean up the residual history left behind. Reclamation of the mines is to truly take the land back to a state prior to the existence of the mine. Even if we take the last weathered board and rusty railroad tie away, we cant take back the past.
To pretend the mines didn’t exist is to discredit and forget the history of the treasures and men that came with them and the mountain communities they created in the process. We have to find a way to remediate the residual, clean our rivers and landscape while honoring the legacy and history that mining created high and deep in our mountains.
The vast wilderness that surrounds us is filed with riches, and all of us who enter the wilds are treasure seekers in some form, mining for experiences to enrich our souls. We may be seeking different riches than those of a century past, but even if all you are looking for is solitude, it’s important to remember that even silence is golden.
Jenny can be reached at Jennyandgooseoutdoors@outlook.com
