Journal Sept 3 – Sawtelle
As we started to break camp, the snow started to fall; small, furious flakes, the kind that can add up fast. Fortunately they didn’t amount to much, despite falling for the first couple hours of our walk.
We passed Sawtelle Mountain, site of a major FAA radar installation. From way down below, after we had arrived at the north end of Island Park, we looked back up and Sawtelle peak loomed larger than life – tall, fortress like, commanding a presence above the general mountain plain, as if it were out of some Hollywood world, James Bond movie.
Our walk out was fast, along the service road for the mountain and we clicked off almost 12 miles in less than 4 hours. At the end of this section, where we came to Highway 20 we stopped for lunch at the Island Park Lodge, where we were able to eavesdrop (in fact, could not help but hear) the monthly Chamber of Commerce board meeting. It was as other-worldly as the “Dr. No” radar dome on Sawtelle Peak.
After lunch we set out to hitch a ride to West Yellowstone where we had resupply boxes to pick up. After 20 minutes and nothing but shiny, new, big-engined white pickup trucks, Camrys and Lexus’, a broken-down suburu stopped, with volunteers from a shoe string enviro group (unnamed here), our kinda folk.
The big city of West Yellowstone was overwhelming with choices, especially of the food variety. But we managed to find decent pizza and a beer or two.
Miles 11.6
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