Another trip to Yellowstone National Park is in the books! Ken and I both agree that any future trips to Yellowstone will either be early or late in the season. Dealing with crowds takes away from the excitement of viewing the spectacular beauty of the park. Hopefully, we will remember and plan accordingly.
MONTANA -where the elevation might be higher than the town’s population
Montana is a sight for the eyes with its giant sky in varying shades of blue, golden wheat fields, timber-covered mountains, flowing streams, and rocky bluffs. The expansive prairie grasslands is what is behind the state being given it’s nickname, Big Sky.
As we continued driving through Montana, I tried to capture Montana Living. One of my favorite things, today, was watching the rafters.
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Whitewater Rafting in Montana
No, we aren’t in any of these photos, but, it was exciting to watch!
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Our next stop was the KOA Journey in Butte, Montana. Looking back, we realized that we stayed at this KOA in 2011. Not much had changed in 13 years!
Butte is nicknamed the “Richest Hill on Earth” for the large amount of copper created in the city. Butte, in it’s early days went from a mining camp to an impressive mining city giving rise to the Copper Kings. It was the first major city in Montana and, at one time, was the largest city west of the Mississippi River. Today, Butte is Montana’s most historic city.
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We headed to uptown Butte to see the historic town. Unfortunately, there was a festival and the streets were blocked, so we could not drive through town. Instead, we drove on some of the neighboring streets and continued “uphill” where we had a great view of the city. Ken continued driving and we ended up in a place called “Walkerville”.
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Walkerville, was a historic district adjacent to Butte, named for the Walker Brothers of Salt Lake City, Utah, who owned and operated the Alice Mine at Walkerville. Walkerville was home to some of the earliest mining sites in the area. Copper and silver were most commonly mined. We were able to get a good look at the headframes at “The Con” mine. Standing at an elevation of 6,135 feet, the “Con” is more than a mile high and a mile deep, the deepest on the hill. The Con was a copper mine and one of the biggest producers in the industry. The headframe of the Con, the second tallest of those remaining on the hill, was erected in 1928.
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Leaving Walkerville, we found ourselves on another “road to nowhere”. Even though the road eventrually dead-ended, It was a nice drive past houses tucked away in the woods. It was an enjoyable drive!
As we were driving, we noticed a large white statue on top of one of the mountains. Our Lady of the Rockies is a 90-foot lit-up figure that stands above the Continental Divide on the mountains. While the statue is intended to look like the mother of Jesus, Mary, it was built to celebrate all women everywhere. Bob O’Bill, a Butte local, built the statue as a dedication to his wife after she survived a fight against cancer.
I’m sure that there were other points of interest in Butte, but, we saw what we could fit into our short visit.
Tomorrow – Idaho
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