It was a short drive into Alta this morning where our first item of business was groceries, one of those never ending chores even when one is on a vacation/adventure. With the necessities done we headed for the local museum, a nicely situated building with a rather strange assortment of displays. The one that captured my attention was a short video on the local slate mining industry and small display of related tools. It was fascinating to see the miners split large slabs of slate into thinner sheets with just a hammer and chisel.

Outside, the museum has a 3km walking trail that passes by many rock carvings dating from as far back as 6000 years. At one point in time someone decided that filling the carvings with red paint would make them easier for visitors to see and many of the carvings still have the red paint, and it does make them easier to see. However more recently the decision has been made to remove the paint so some of the carvings are now paint free. During our walk we saw a team hard at work removing the paint. Nina's take on this is that once all the paint has been removed most people over 50 wont be able to see any of the carvings.

After the museum visit we took a drive up a rural road looking for the local hydro-electric system and a famous canyon, which we never did find. What we did find was a seemingly abandoned village that was once a slate mine, as there was slate debris everywhere and the drill marks could still be seen in the face of the slate deposits.

A while down the road from Alta we found yet another marked roadside picnic area and decided to make it our nights resting place. Before bed we did a load of washing. During the course of the evening we were joined by a couple of groups in caravans/travel trailers, a group tent camping, and a couple of long haul trucks.