Berkeley pit

while in Butte we visited the berkeley pit




Taken from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit

The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, United States. It is one mile long by half a mile wide with an approximate depth of 1,780 feet (540 m). It is filled to a depth of about 900 feet (270 m) with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level), about the acidity of cola or lemon juice.^[1] As a result, the pit is laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals that leach from the rock, includingarsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.^[1]

The mine was opened in 1955 and operated by Anaconda Copper and later by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), until its closure in 1982. When the pit was closed, the water pumps in the nearby Kelly shaft, at a depth of 3,800 feet, were turned off, and groundwater from the surrounding aquifers began to slowly fill the pit, rising at about the rate of one foot a month.^[1] Since the pit closure on Earth Day 1982, the level has risen to within 150 feet of the natural groundwater level.

The pit and its water present a serious environmental problem because the water, with dissolved oxygen, allows pyrite and sulfide minerals in the ore and wall rocks to decay, releasing acid. When the pit water level eventually reaches the natural water table, estimated to occur by around 2020, the pit water will reverse flow back into surrounding groundwater, polluting into Silver Bow Creek which is the headwaters of Clark Fork River.^[1] The acidic water in the pit carries a heavy load of dissolved heavy metals. In fact, the water contains so much dissolved metal (up to 187ppm Cu) that some material is mined directly from the water.

In the 1990s plans were devised for solving the groundwater problem. Water flowing into the pit has been diverted to slow the rise of the water level. Plans have been made for more extensive treatment in the future. The Berkeley Pit has since become one of the largest Superfund sites.

love this shot of my dad and hubby going through the tunnel

also went to the memorial 

people from all over the world lost their lives in the mines

tunnel vision

Hiawatha trail.  Starts in Montana (barely) and ends in Idaho.  well if you go down the trail it does and since I rarely ride its the only way for me to go. 

there are 10 tunnels that wind through the 15 mile road trip down the mountain.  the longest tunnel is 8771 feet long that is 1.66 miles.  And it is DARK very dark.  that's why their is a mandatory light rule. 

If you say yesterday's post you saw the light on my helmet.

i thought it would be a cool shot.  the light shinning down on the bike tires as I rode through the tunnel.  haha well I found out a couple of things.  One it is not easy to do.  two I am uncoordinated and can't shoot and ride at the same time in the light let alone in the pitch dark.  so I cheated and stopped but only for a moment because there were other riders coming up behind me and I really didn't feel like being rear ended.

exiting the tunnels was always a great experience and lead to beautiful views.  some of which I will share tomorrow.

what is inbetween here and there?

opps a bit behind in my postings sorry about that.


A tunnel of course. this one is in Zion (of course are you sick of these pictures or what? to bad)

a crazy windy road gets you up to this point. And of course the road had to be under construction since it is summer and that is the only time they can do road construction there. Sorry shot from the car window .



The above picture was taken going about 30 mph through the tunnel. crazy thing I had never seen before. they had several of these opening in the tunnel where you could see out. the best we figure is it was for natural lighting to save on not putting lights in there.

here is a shot of one of those wholes in the tunnel. at first we thought it was for water drainage which it very well still could be. you see in sandstone its like a sponge it soaks up the water and then it travels through it till it can find an out. that out is when it hits no porous rock like granite and then it drips through. probably saves from having a mess inside the tunnels too.

ahhhh the light at the end of the tunnel. this shot was a bit erie looking when I first saw it not great but had to include it in the story.