North Rim of the Grand Canyon

We got to Kanab, Utah and the weather was perfect. We drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on a day trip. It was about 75 miles from our campground. It was a fairly desolate drive but beautiful. We saw a herd of mule deer along the way. The North Rim is at a higher elevation than the south rim so it gets colder sooner and most of it is closed in winter. The day we were there it was in the 60's with bright sun so it felt nice and warm. We had breakfast at the Grand Canyon Lodge with a view of the canyon. Jim's tip about breakfast there -- don't order the ham -- not worth the price its just the "lunchmeat style" ham.

The North Rim is much less busy than the south. It's off the beaten path and takes about 5 hours to get there from the south rim. It's definitely worth checking out. When we got to one of the overlooks along Cape Royal road we saw a bunch of firefighters coming out of the woods all smoke and sweat covered. They had just finished putting out a fire that had burnt all the way to the edge of the canyon and and had even started to burn down the slope just as they got it under control.

I would say that at least half if not more of the tourists at the parks we've visited have been foreign, German, French, Japanese, Dutch, etc. I guess one good thing about the exchange rate --its cheap for foreign tourists to come here and spend their money. We should appreciate all the foreign tourist dollars coming into the country.

Bryce National Park

After spending some time in Rexburg, Idaho doing day trips to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National parks. We headed south and spent a night on the north end of Salt Lake City. Traveling through Salt Lake during morning rush hour isn't fun especially with the freeway torn up for 30 miles. We ended up close to the crossroads of hwy 89 and hwy 12 south of Panguitch, Utah. We spent a week there exploring Bryce National Park, Red Rock Canyon and the highway 12 scenic byway.

So much beautiful red rock everywhere in the coolest shapes. We got to see our first "flash flood". There was a dry creek bed that followed alongside the highway. At least it was dry when we went to the park but on the way back it was a roaring river of water. A real "gully washer" -- very dangerous. Amazingly just a few hours later and the whole thing was dry again.

This area is close to 5 national parks so it is very popular for foreign tourists. Many of them rent small RV's to see the parks. Its amazing --and scary-- anyone can drive an RV of any size without any special license.

We are now in Kanab, Utah a little farther south and on our way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Richest Hole on Earth

Butte, Montana was the site of the richest copper mine. Back in the late 1800's they started mining copper in underground mines here. Eventually, they went to open pit mining and created this giant hole. Its miles around and over a mile deep. They still mine copper in another open pit mine behind this one. They also recover copper out of the leach water left over from the original mining operation. This pit full of water is so acidic it will kill birds that land on it and stay too long. They have a big noise maker they blast to scare birds, ducks, etc. The city of Butte is using this toxic pit as a tourist attraction. I guess its working -- we went to see it. Its all part of a superfund clean up site that stretches from Butte to Anaconda all the way up to Missoula. They are all connected because of the rivers that flow through all of this and got very contaminated from all the mining. It's nice to see that it can be cleaned up but its going to take at least twenty more years.

Jim got his cast off and now just wears a removable brace. We are planning to head to Rexburg, Idaho next. The start of our journey south. It is time to leave Anaconda. It's getting into the very low 30's most nights -- almost had frost one night. The truck has all new filters and fluids and the tires and brakes have been checked. We just need to do a few more maintenance chores on the 5th wheel and boat and we will be good to go.