The Taelemans´ Blog

The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, about a mile and a half wide and about 1,780 feet (540 m) deep. Once the pit was closed in 1982, groundwater started to fill the pit to the natural groundwater level. This has presented an environmental problem in that the water allows minerals in the ore and wall rocks to decay, releasing acid and finally resulting in water that is heavily acidic (pH level of 2.5) and loaded with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals (hence the color of the water).

Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana | Location on map

The water contains so much dissolved metal that nowadays they actually mine the water as you can see on the picture below.

Berkeley Pit Water Processing Factory | Location on map

Check the map location to get a feeling of how large the pit really is.

PS: If you’re in Butte, go to the Derby Steak House. The steaks they serve are just amazing. Must have been the best steak I ate in my life.

In my opinion, Europe is behind on the US technology wise, but as far as the electricity system goes, the US is pretty outdated. The plugs and sockets for example are hell, providing no stability at all. In most US cities, the utility poles are still made of wood and a lot of main electrical connections between towns use these old wooden poles as their only support. A simple storm could easily cause power outages…
This picture of a utility pole with transformer mess was taken in Butte (No, with an “e” and no it does not originate from…, it’s French for “small hill”) , Montana and these can still be seen everywhere across the country.

Utility Pole in Butte, Montana | Location on map

Here are some more pictures from Glacier National Park. The first picture shows Swiftcurrent lake and on the left you can see the Many Glacier Hotel. The second picture shows a small island in St Mary Lake with Red Eagle mountain in the back.

Swiftcurrent Lake, Glacier N.P. | Location on map

Red Eagle Mountain, Glacier N.P. | Location on map

I’m sorry for the slow pace of updates recently on the blog, but our lives seem to get rather hectic nowadays as we are in the final stretch of moving to Vancouver, Canada. My employer in Vancouver booked our plane tickets last week and our packing dates are confirmed so we can actually start counting down and hope we’ve got everything covered here in Belgium. I’m really happy that everything in Vancouver gets arranged by my employer so we don’t have to worry too much about that.

The Swiftcurrent trail is an easy trail that starts right next to the Many Glacier Hotel and takes you all the way around the lake, making it perfect for an late afternoon stroll. When we did the trail in mid-June, the trail was still covered with snow at some places and was sometimes still one to two meters thick. The snowfall in this area must be immense… The trail gives you some wonderful views of the Many Glacier Valley as you can see on the following pictures and remember, be bear aware

Swiftcurrent trail, Glacier N.P. | Location on map

Swiftcurrent trail, Glacier N.P. | Location on map

On the edge of Swiftcurrent Lake in Glacier National Park lies the Many Glacier Hotel. This Swiss themed hotel was built between 1910 and 1914 and I must say that this was one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at location wise.
The rooms are a bit dated but contribute to the close to nature feeling as they feel like you’re staying in a cabin. The lobby is just wonderful, with an open fireplace located in the middle and live music playing all evening. And what more could a man want than to sit by his loved one, watching the sun go down over Swiftcurrent Lake, enjoying a very nice “Moose Drool” beer.
When I asked the bartender which beers he had, he mentioned he had a new Belgian beer called “Fat Tire”… I started to doubt my Belgian beer knowledge until I later saw a beer in a shop called “Fat Tire” by the New Belgium Brewing Company. Americans sure are original with brand names

Many Glacier Hotel, Glacier N.P. | Location on map