Sightseeing Day:
- Lead, SD
- Homestake Mine
- Black Hills Passion Play
This morning I made breakfast: cheese-eggs and toast. We were kind of wavering about what we wanted to do this morning. But we decided to go to Lead (pronounced "leed").
To get to Lead, you have to drive through Deadwood. This was OK because it gave us an idea of the town's layout for our adventure there in two days.
Here's a picture of downtown Lead. It's a very small and quiet town.
Our first stop was the visitor's center in Lead. We were greeted by no one. We found our way to a video about the open-cut gold mine (Homestake Gold Mine) in Lead and watched with interest. Then, we ventured outside to view the gaping open-cut mine. Phew. It was quite massive.
In this picture, the grassy area at the top of the hill is 1 mile from where we were standing. It was hard to believe it was that far away.
Still couldn't find anyone to ask for information in the visitor's center. I finally asked someone at the jewelry counter (Black Hills gold is sold everywhere around here). He said there was a tour bus at 2 PM and 3:30 PM.
It was about 12:30 PM by now and Dave's sugar level was dropping fast. So, we found a saloon up the street in which to get lunch.
We decided that we'd go to the gold mining museum next door to the saloon before going on the tour bus. The museum has the usual artifacts, but its claim to fame was a simulated mine tour. We were not about to go underground again for a slip-n-slide experience so asked questions this time. There were 17 steps down and then it was level walking. OK. I can do 17 steps and flat walking, so off we went.
Our tour guide was married to a man that had worked in the gold mines for 20 years and her father had worked in the mines all of his working years. So, she was quite knowledgeable and interesting. The displays were very thorough in detailing all the working conditions and duties. The mine was closed in 2000-ish (we get different dates from different tours). I was so interested in the tour, I didn't take even one picture. Duh.
Currently, Lead and the Homestake Mine are being used as a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory, by the National Science Foundation. The facility is conducting low-background experiments on neutrinos, dark matter, and other nuclear physics topics, as well as biology and mine engineering studies. It seems these neutrinos slow down when going through so much rock, which enables scientists to study them.
An interesting fact about Lead is that it is a mile-high city (so Denver is not the only one), but their mile-high city has a heart of gold. Hee Hee. The town of Lead had to be moved three times because the city buildings kept sinking from all the mining below it.
Here's a picture of the town before it was moved. As you can see, some of the buildings are "in" the mine area.
The mine is 8,000 ft. deep with miles of horizontal underground tunnels. These tunnels are 150-ft apart, vertically. It takes 1 ton of rock (crushed) to extract 1 oz. of gold. Phew. A lot of work for a little bit of gold!
The mine was not shut due to a lack of gold, but due to the fall of the price of gold. At the time of closing, it cost $350 to extract an ounce of gold and the price of gold was $250 an ounce. Figuring the price of gold wouldn't go up much in the near future, the mine was closed and donated to South Dakota. Now, with the price of gold at $900 an ounce, it would be economically feasible to extract the gold if the mine were up and running. However, the cost to restore the mine that has been back-filled would be astronomical. So, that's why the scientific group is using it. They are opening parts of the mine for use, but not all of it.
After our mining museum tour, we drove back to the visitor's center to hop on the trolley tour bus. But, first we had to dress the part in order to go up to the mine shaft at the top of the hill (where all the machinery is still located).
The trolley took us up to the actual mine where the machinery is housed and being used by the scientific group.
This picture is of the cable that goes down the mine shaft (wound around the hub).
The cable is one length. If it breaks, it costs $500,000 to replace. The cable controls the shaft elevator that moves man and machinery up and down.
Of course, we learned a lot about the town and its beginnings and notorious visitors, such as Sundance Kid, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, etc.
We went back to the RV to take a brief nap before eating dinner and getting ready for the Black Hills Passion Play. When we awoke, we went to Culver's for dinner. The play is in an amphitheater that is about 3 miles from the RV camp. So, it was a quick drive there. We got there a little too early. So, after getting our tickets and souvenirs, we sat in the car and people-watched.
Finally went in and had seats 4 rows back from the "stage." The props and presentation are all outdoors. We could not take any pictures during the actual play, so I have captured some pictures from their site. I have also included a couple of my own pics of the blank stage and seating.
They included some live animals in the presentation: 6 horses, herd of sheep, donkeys, and a camel. The Passion Play has been held since the 1940s (I think), but this will probably be the last season unless someone purchases it. The family that had owned it all these years no longer have the family members to continue the venture. The play was well done. But, it was too long without a stretch. It was 2 hours and we really needed an intermission.
They presented the Biblical account from time when Jesus went to Bethany through His resurrection. Each scene was in a different location on the stage. The crucifixion was done up on a hill far to the right of the other props. It was nicely done and we were glad we had attended. We left remembering just how precious Christ's gift of salvation is to us.
The play was over at 10 PM and we headed directly home. We were both worn out and went right to bed. ZZZZZZZzzzzzz
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