Abandoned Mine

Southwest Colorado is littered with abandoned mine sites. It's a wonder that the mountains are still there because dudes with pick axes and dynamite have been been hammering away at them since the 1880's trying to pull gold, silver and other usable metals out of them.

My 86-year-old neighbor George worked in mines like this one near Ouray up until he joined the Army and fought in World War II. George survived WWII --- and living 60 years on Gaston Avenue --- without a scratch. But the mining work will likely do him in. He says he wakes up every morning around 3 a.m. coughing because of the damage that mining dust did to his lungs.