Starting Mileage leaving Ennis: 5911
Ending Mileage arriving Missoula, MT: 6118
Miles Driven: 207
Avg. MPG: 8.9
Gas Price: $3.99--Ennis, MT
Overnight: Missoula, Montana
Travel Day
Jim & Mary's RV Park
This morning before hooking us up, Dave drove into town to fill up with gas. After our usual chores to dismantle the campsite, we were off at our usual time of 10 AM.
Note: You may have noticed that we had great gas mileage today. It even climbed to over 10 MPG several times during the drive. Yes, I remembered to reset the gauge before we left Ennis! And, this great gas mileage was in spite of crossing the Continental Divide today. Not sure why; but, we'll take it!
We headed north on US 287 to hook up with I-90 westward. We traveled across the valley for quite a while. Off in the distance, we spotted the Anaconda Smoke Stack. We have since learned that this is a copper smelter stack. It was built in 1919, and it is one of the tallest free-standing brick structures in the world at 585 feet. The inside diameter is 75 feet at bottom, tapering to 60 feet at the top. In comparison, the Washington Monument is 555 feet tall. The industry once dominated the area's economic life. Since the smelter closed in 1980, the stack has become a symbol of the challenges that face communities dependent on finite resources. You cannot get up close to the stack, but it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Before getting to Butte, MT, we crossed some pretty high hills. Guess they gets lots of snow there because there were rows and rows of snow drift fences.
We also came upon yet another type of haystack. The size of these stacked bails is the same size as the darker openings. From the bottom of one dark opening to the top of the one below it, is the actual size of the bails that are stacked in this formation.
The landscape began to change to more rugged rock-striped hills. The following pictures show slanted rock formations on the left side of the picture. I have included a close-up view of the same hills; check out the colors in the hills.
The terrain continued to get more and more rocky as we continued to climb in elevation.
And then, we crossed the Continental Divide just before entering Butte, MT.
As we came into Butte, we could see the evidence of the current copper mining. In the first picture below, you can see strip mining evidence on the right side of the picture (the lightest-colored area). On the left side of the picture, you can see where the waste material has been piled between the hills. The next two pictures show close-up views of the same mining areas.
In town, there are many mine shafts that go down into the hills. I didn't take a picture of this, so I have included a stock photo to give you an idea of the extensive mining in the town. You can see a few shaft structures on the skyline.
We stopped in Butte at a Perkins for lunch.
We drove on to Missoula and arrived at our campsite at about 3 PM. We will be here for a few days while we do Dave's ancestor research. The sites at this campground are more spacious than most, and as you can see, there is plenty of shade. The weather is warm (97 degrees), but not as hot has it has been elsewhere because of the shade and gentle breeze.
Well, we just nibbled on leftovers for dinner as we had a big lunch today at Perkins. We have CATV again. The WiFi is very strong. But, we have no cell phone coverage. So, when we have to call out or listen to a message, we have to drive up to the top of the hill (about 1/4-mile) to use the phone. Of the three inconveniences, if I had to choose one, I choose the cell phone!
Tomorrow we'll head over to the Missoula courthouse to see what evidence of family history we can dig up.
Later, gators.
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