Butte. Phillipsburg. The Copper King. More Snow.

About the 10th of June we hit the road again. Objective: the old mining and mercantile route through Anaconda, over the pass by Georgetown and historic Philipsburg.

We drove west from Billings over Bozeman Pass, through the mouths of Paradise Valley (Yellowstone River) and Madison Valley (Madison River, duh!), intermittent rain the whole way, and got to the foot of Homestake Pass at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Remember, June 10th.

At about 6,000 feet on Homestake Pass (which delineates the Continental Divide at this latitude and whose western slope includes the Butte city limits) we noticed the outside thermometer on our rented Subaru was dropping like a stone. We were becoming old hands at this phenomenon and were therefore stoic when, in the space of about thirty seconds, the rain turned to snow and visibility suddenly decreased to about fifteen inches from the now-frozen windshield. HEAVY SIGH.

We came over the summit and descended into Butte, where the skies were gloomy and gray and the temp hovered in the thirties. No accumulation on the streets here (YET), but windy and the occasional flake to remind us why everybody here leaves snow tires on till July.

Arrived at our hotel. You guys have GOTTA see this place; it's called The Copper King Mansion, is privately owned and operated as a B&B, and was once the home of a man named William Andrews (W.A.) Clark, one of Montana's three famous "Copper Kings", and at one time the richest man in the world. Go here:

http://www.thecopperkingmansion.com/index.html
[THAT'S RIGHT, who's yer Daddy, I figured out how to add actual hyperlinks so you don't hafta cut-n-paste any more... now if I c'n just remember how I DID it...]

to read about this place. It is SO COOL, totally period decor, there must be $5M worth of antiques in this place including all kinds of books, personal items, and furniture from the era... AND, we stayed in The Grand Master Suite, the old guy's personal bedroom, during our stay...

Our Suite At Copper King Mansion:


The Library Adjoining Our Siute:


Making Ourselves At Home:


So, to paraphrase Arlo Guthrie in 'Alice's Restaurant', we had a supper that couldn't be beat, went to sleep, and didn't wake up 'till the next morning, when this is what greeted us...

Our Rental Car From Copper King Garden:


And this...

Montana Avenue In Butte:


And once we got up west of Anaconda, this is what Georgetown Lake looked like:

Rest Area At Georgetown:


More later, the Blogger site is acting up.