We come to an abandoned homestead and stop by the side of Highlight Road near Cordero Rojo mine to look for a while. The place has a lot of character and was loved by those who once lived here. Not an easy life I expect, but a rewarding one perhaps. I now imagine someone seeing this and contacting me to pass the real story on. I hope it happens and I will put it in here if it does.

Highlight ends at Cordero Rojo. Perhaps it once continued, but the mine ate it up. It is difficult to navigate here because none of the maps are right. The roads keep moving around. Even the Google satellite images suggest roads going right across active mining operations. Common sense, dead reckoning, a compass and rolling the dice are all useful navigational tools. We find our way back out to route 59 (on Haight Road – I think … maybe) and head north to Bishop Road in an attempt to find the Belle Ayr mine. Some maps show Bishop forking several times with both forks labeled Bishop. This should be fun. As we approach the turn for Bishop, I spot an apparition on the crest of a hill a mile or two away. It looks like some strange machine but is way too big for how far away it is. It turns out to be right at the side of Bishop Road. We stop to get out and look, it is still incongruous. Surrounded by a chain link fence in a field, there is no clue as to what it is or why it is here. Rationally I know it must be a piece of mining equipment but visually it looks like a cross between a battleship and something out Star Wars. A large label on the side says “Thyssen-Krupp” which I recognize as an old German manufacturer of all sorts of electro-mechanical equipment – including the elevator in our church. I figure that I can find something about this beast when I get home. In fact I did discover that it is called a bucket wheel excavator and this one is almost new with only 5000 hours on it and is for sale. If you’re interested, see: For Sale - As my Dad used to say, “No home should be without one”

We finally do find our way to the Belle Ayr mine. This is the oldest of the mines that began in the early 70’s and was originally owned by Amax Coal (our customer when I worked at Computer Identics). I hope that I will see some more signs of that work, but I do not. Coal Creek remains as the only evidence. The color scheme of the buildings with burnt orange and teal appeals to me and suggests the brick and weathered copper of the old 19^th century mills in the east – my home turf. I still wonder if that was intentional. What an amazing day! We head from here back to Wright for dinner. The sky has been getting threatening but so far the darkness has stayed off to the northwest. Only an occasional sprinkle falls. There is a 170 ton haul truck across the street from the Wright Hotel – we have to check it out. This is a “small” one by current measure, but still huge, especially when you can walk right up to and under it.