Today has been a long day. Had a great breakfast with Linda and Wood this a.m. Wood made pancakes, side pork (a different kind of bacon), and smoked pork chops. The two pork items were especially great and not something I can imagine getting again unless I come back here for another visit! It was most delicious!
After breakfast, Linda and I headed off to Butte so I could visit the Berkeley Pit. Despite the Pit, the damage the mining industry has had on Butte, and the run-down town that it is in general, the "historic" downtown Butte was quite pretty. It reminded me a lot of Pennsylvania mining towns or some of the towns along the Hudson River. Most of the buildings were brick, the streets were wide, and the town had the overall industrial vibe expected in such a place. Sides of the brick buildings had the painted ads, which were interesting to see.
Views of the historic downtown:
I think this is a view of Broadway Street.
One of the painted ads on the side of a brick building.
At the Butte Chamber of Commerce there was this bear... apparently they had a contest where folks could paint these bear sculptures. This one was quite pretty. I have another picture of his butt... he has a moose on his tush!
The main reason I wanted to go to Butte was to visit the Berkeley Pit. It just seemed something necessary to see while out here. I wouldn't have even known about it if I hadn't read about it in the travel edition of Good Magazine. I'd like to write more about it, but frankly right now I'm too tired, so I may have to revisit this topic in a later post... but here are some pics and general bits of info...
Me at the entrance to the Berkeley Pit viewing platform.
The Berkeley Pit itself...
Some things I learned about the pit while I was there...
- The Pit is about 900 feet deep and, if the water is not being cleaned, it will increase by about 12 feet a year.
- The current level of the Pit is at about 5240 feet. If it reaches 5410 feet, it will pollute the ground water.
- Contents of the Pit include cadmium, arsenic, and all other sorts of nastiness, some naturally coming from minerals some added as part of the mining process.
- The top layer of the Pit has Iron 3, F3. It is what makes the Pit the sickly brown color.
- The lower level is Iron 2, F2, and is clear (but still nasty).
- Scientists have found living organisms in the water, like algae and bacteria. Also, supposedly some sort of bug is digging the water as well.
- Water is currently being pulled from the Pit, cleaned, and then the clean water re-routed for irrigation and other mining uses, while the sludge is put back into the Pit.
After the visit to Butte we heading north through the Deerlodge forest to Helena. One thing worth mentioning: right now there is a beetle, the Pine Beetle -- imported from Europe somehow -- that is killing the pine trees all throughout the Rockies. The only way known to stop them is to burn, burn and burn. Below is a picture of some of the trees in Deerlodge. The reddish brown trees are the ones that are clearly and visibly infected and dieing. Linda says that supposedly in just a few years all the forests throughout the Rockies could be completely devastated by these beetles. A real tragedy.
The final part of the day was a visit to the state capital of Helena, the main goal of which was to visit the Capital building. Pictures below...
View of the back side of the capital building -- now the main entrance due to security concerns. Though there is a sign saying "No Weapons", there is no security machine to go through on the way in...
View from one of the windows in the rotunda, looking out at the front of the capital building.
Steps going up to the upper level of the rotunda. There is a ton of beautiful stain glass in this building. Overall, I was impressed by the beauty of the capital building and the pride and care given to it by the state.
Oh, I should note, over the course of the day I crossed the Continental Divide twice, once on I-90 on the way to Butte, the second on I-15 on the way to Helena.
Ended the day with a fine dinner prepared by Wood: BBQ Pork Ribs. Yum. My lips still feel the spice. We also had scrumptious coleslaw and tasty corn muffins with honey butter. Oh, and we've now gone through 3 of the 4 bottles of wine I bought with me!!!
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