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Under Construction Gallatin River Rafting On the way to Bozeman, we stopped by Butte and looked at the open pit copper mine (now closed) from the old Anaconda Mine days. Now with the pumps turned off, the water table has flooded the bottom of the pit with an icky brown/red color of water due to the leaching of chemicals. Truly an ugly environmental issue. I think our impression was that while mining in Butte made some folks some money, it appeared to create environmental havoc on the city and surrounding area. One positive effect is the new environmental clean-up programs that they are running at the Montana School of Mines now (in Butte of course!).
Arrived in Bozeman - had trouble finding a room due to an evening concert of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - it drew all the romantics in Montana to Bozeman that night!! Did swing by the Museum of the Rockies for their "all you can eat ribs" night - seems like we got there too late for the grub (Guess it's OK since Pete is vegetarian anyway!)
Onward to the Gallatin River!! As a footnote, this is the river which was used for many of the river shots for the movie "A River Runs Through It" starring Brad Pitt, Tom Skerrit, and others. Our guide for the day was Merlin who can be seen at the back of the raft.
A fun river and ride although this was the mildest of the rafting trips we took. However, the milder water allowed for larger and more intense water fights!! So I guess it all balances out.
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