July 23, 2012

We arrived in Anaconda, Mt on Saturday accompanied by Don and Sandy Courtney. We’re staying in the Fairmont RV Park which is right next door to the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, a hotel with a giant swimming pool and mediocre golf course. (Rob and I played it last time we were here a couple of years ago.) The RV park is okay. It’s a big open lot with gravel roads and pads and some sparse grass around the edges; comfortable enough, but nothing to write home about.

Saturday afternoon Browns and Courtneys cruised by the Art Festival and decided to skip it based on the huge crowd and lack of close in parking. Rob and I went to it last time we were here. It was pretty nice with lots of artsy items for sale, but once was enough. We took a little drive around Anaconda and then decided to see what Butte had to offer about 20 miles east of Anaconda. Rob and I took a trolley tour last time we were here so figured we could fill in a little of the history for Don and Sandy. The open pit copper mine is the most evident tourist attraction. Mining began here in 1955 and ended in 1982. It is one mile long by ½ mile wide and 1780 feet deep. About 900 feet of it is filled with toxic water. This pit is one of the largest Superfund sites. We wanted to see if we could get high enough on the hill to see into the pit so we wound around the town of Butte and kept going higher and higher. Along the route were tiny houses in various stages of decay with some showing signs of reconstruction. Apparently, home to many of the miners. There are many old “headframes” dotting the landscape; evidence of hardrock (shaft) mining that has taken place in Butte since the early 1870’s. Butte began as a mining town with silver and gold also being mined, but copper is what put Butte on the map. When we finally got to a summit we discovered a monument to the 1917 Speculator Mine Disaster. This was a fire which occurred 2000 feet below the surface. 168 men died, most from lack of oxygen. Some survived by building bulkheads preventing the carbon monoxide from invading their safe space.

While Butte was where the ore was mined, Anaconda was where the smelter was. The smelters were closed along with the closing of the pit and the superfund cleanup continues to this day. One of the positive outcomes of the cleanup is a Jack Nicklaus championship golf course, The Old Works Golf Course, one we had played before. We had a 9:10 tee time today for three (Don, Rob and me) and decided to have breakfast at the course. By the time breakfast was over and we had hit a few practice balls the wind started to blow. A little wind (17 mph) wasn’t going to stop us from experiencing this beautiful course. The bunkers are filled with reclaimed slag from the smelting process and are pure black. They’re beautiful, but not any easier to get out of than regular sand. Once again the course won, but I think the wind was the major factor.

Tomorrow we’re on our way to Missoula. Sandy’s looking forward to dinner at the Outback…so are we!