Back to potato land

September 6, 2021

We were up early and on the road by 8 am this morning, heading west to Idaho. It was pretty hazy most of the entire drive until we reached the border where it continued to clear all the way to Heyburn State Park.

When I stepped out of the truck at our campsite, I smelled the nothing but pine tress. Heavenly!

Our site is a big pull-through (easier to park our rig) and all paved which means we can put out the dance floor. It's a beautiful spot located deep within tall pine trees.

We're at the Benewa Lake campground section of the park which is part way between Plummer and Saint Maries. The campground is a small one with few people here but we do have an Airstream neighbor.

We got camp set up, had dinner and then took a drive to see where the access points were for kayaking and the Coeur D'Alene trail.

Unfortunatly Don thought we had easy access to the trail right out of the campground when he was making our reservations, but it's miles away at another section of the state park. Too far to bike to on a narrow, winding road with no shoulder.

So we'll be hauling the bike in the truck to the start of all of our bike rides. That means we'll have to take everything out of the bed of the truck to make room for transporting either bike.

But we do have easy access to Benewa Lake near the campground. We plan to give the kayaking one more try.

We'll be here for a week and hope the clear air will continue so we can get lots of riding done!

I'll leave you with some parting shots of Butte.

This is the Charles Walker Clark mansion. It was built in 1898 by copper magnate William Clark, the father of Charles and modeled after a French chateau that Charles honymooned in with his wife Katherine. Over the years it has had many owners, including the Shriners. The Montana state song was composed in the music room. Now it is owned by the city of Butte and offers tours. It is also used for private parties, weddings, and various commuity events. I saw a picture on-line showing a large ballroom!

I wanted to take a picture of the Berkley Pit copper mine, but they wanted $3 for the privledge. Since it would not have been a good picture due to the haze, I passed. This former copper mine was started in 1955 and closed in 1982. It is 1 miles long, 1/2 mile wide and is 1780 ft. deep. It is filled to a depth of 900 ft. with extremely acidic and contaminated water which led to the mine's closure. The mine once enabled Butte to claim the title of the "Richest Hill on Earth". The contaminated water is being treated and now can be released in the creek below.

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