Bells Canyon and Final Preparations!

Tuesday was an all-around great day. Zach was the navigator and we let him set the course (and the pace) for what the day would hold. We packed lunches and headed out to the Bells Canyon Reservoir and the waterfalls that we had heard were above it. What a beautiful day for a hike!
The weather was perfect, our attitudes were in tune and off we went. In Utah, most of the hikes go up, so we had quite a few switchbacks as we gained altitude. This hike may seem tame to native Utahns, but to us it required a bit of effort. Once we made it to the reservoir, our efforts were rewarded!

Bells Canyon Reservoir

From the reservoir upward, the trail opened up for a while, but then turned upward and was strewn with more and more boulders, kind a mini-Elephant Rocks in many places, for those of you familiar with our park in Missouri. In many places we were right next to the stream that feeds into the reservoir, and its many riffles and waterfalls. Millie picked out a nice spot for lunch that had a great view, and then we headed back down.
We stopped back at FOB Westfall to check in before heading out to the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine. It's the largest of its kind in the world. It is a pit mine in operation since the earliest of the pioneer days, and the pit is large is enough it can be located in pictures of the earth taken by satellite. The driveway from the entrance gate to the mine itself is 6 miles long!

The open-pit mine

One of the interesting things we learned here was that Kennecott (the mining company) donated the minerals that made the gold, sliver and bronze metals for the Utah Winter Olympics, making the Utah games the first ever to have the medals made from minerals mined at the game sites.
From there it was a great meal at Cafe Rio, the best Mexican we've discovered in Utah, and a late night of preparations, laundry and packing and re-packing....tomorrow we're off to Provo.
Was a touching night to watch as Zach made phone calls to Kaitlyn, Charles, Ian and Isaak. As they will be at school tomorrow when we head out, this was Zach's last time talking to them on the phone til Christmas (as Missionaries are called to serve and commit to focus on the missionary work, they do so free of distractions from their labors. Phone calls home are twice a year: at Christmas time and on Mother's Day. We've talked and prayed about this, and are committed to helping our Missionary serve with honor!) We're not sure that Ian and Isaak really get it, but we have told them Zach will be gone and on a mission, and won't be coming home with us.
Millie and I have helped prepare him all we can, and he's continuing to be blessed from his decisions.
Tomorrow: to Provo!
Via con Dios