Truths & Misconceptons

Since moving to this quaint and quirky little mountain town, I have had many questions and  comments about various aspects of this area. Comments like, "Oh. You have electricity." or "You don't get mail delivered to your house?"

Cripple Creek seen from the overlook near Tenderfoot Pass

This post and several in the coming weeks will be written to enlighten people - especially those living in cities - about life in this small rural mountain town.

Electricity - Yes. We have electricity. In fact, Cripple Creek has had electric power since 1897.
Water - Yes. We have municipal water. Just like the majority of the people who are reading this. And yes, we have indoor bathrooms. Though the last outhouse was in use until the mid 1980's.
Internet - While we do have internet capabilities, they are not high speed. My internet arrives via a satellite dish.
TV - If a person would like a variety of channels (we only get two channels via an antenna), then a satellite dish is necessary.
Mail & Packages - Even though this is a municipality, we do not have residential mail delivery. A post office box must be secured to receive mail via the postal service.  (this has been one of the hardest things for people to wrap their heads around... go figure...)  Fedex and UPS do deliver here.
Streets - The majority of the streets in Cripple Creek are paved. But there are only two paved streets in the neighboring town of Victor. In order to pave streets, a city must have funds to do so. Victor does not have the funding nor the population to provide funds to pave streets. Victor has a population of 403 people. Cripple Creek has  a population of 1,175 people. Both of those figures were per the 2016 census.  

Weather - Even though we are located at an elevation of over 9400ft, the weather here is more temperate than most people think. Most of the weather systems arrive from the south and this brings us warmer, wetter weather than most places in the high mountains. We do get a lot of fog though. That's not to say that Cripple Creek doesn't get its fair share of snow and nasty weather. But those times usually occur in the Spring months.
Casinos - Yes, Cripple Creek does have legal gambling with numerous casinos located on the main road in town. No, this is not like Las Vegas. Victor does not have gambling. More on this later.
Gold Mine - Both Cripple Creek and Victor are located in an active mining area. This means that the landscape is subject to change. More in another post.

Stores - We have one convenience store, two gas stations, a hardware/lumber store, a medical clinic, a nursing home and a small grocery store here. Oh, and a Family Dollar store. There are several small touristy shops found here in Cripple Creek as well. The grocery store, while it is small, has everything that would be needed and the prices are really comparable to stores in the closest 'big city' of Woodland Park. I make a once a week trip to Woodland Park for groceries. There is also a library and school located here.
Commuters - Yes. Hubby is still working in Colorado Springs. There are quite a few people who commute from up here to Colorado Springs to work. He drives 48 miles into work and crosses two mountain passes. Less miles than many people elsewhere drive to work. It takes him less time than people commuting from the south side to the north side of Colorado Springs to go to work. He enjoys his drive - he says it gives him time to decompress from work and this is the type of traffic congestion he has now. 

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

If I have forgotten to address a topic, leave me a message in the comments or ship me an email! I will be expanding on many of these topics in the next few weeks. The first topic will be the gold mine. So stay tuned. Don't touch that dial!