Sawtell Peak - Day 2

So this is the sweet cabin we stayed in. You can kind of get an idea of the size of it from my two nephews on the left side of the picture. There were two bedrooms on the bottom floor (Jeremy & Alissa and Krysta & Paul) and two at the top (mom & dad and Bryan & I). The middle level is the kitchen and large living area where the kids (&Ali) slept. 

Ali and Jordyn hanging out on the upper balcony. Right inside the screen door is where Bryan and I stayed. We slept each night with the door open - good sleeping weather! I swear we heard a bat flapping around out there one night... it could have just been a ginormous mosquito though. My dad went on and on about a giant rock chuck(?) that was staring him down the first night we arrived but I digress...

The kids put up and took down the flag each morning and night. That was cool.

Grandma came prepared with lots of crafts for the kids to do!

   

The neighbors came by and told us about a "scenic" drive up to Sawtell Peak and so naturally the kids, Bryan, Ali, Jeremy & Dad wanted to go. We could see the mountain across the valley and there was a huge globe shape on top. I normally do NOT do "scenic" drives because unfortunately I get car sick ridiculously easily. Somehow I was talked into going on this trip.

I found this description on BigSkyFishing.com: The Sawtell Peak Scenic Drive is a short, twelve-mile route that climbs to the top of the 9875-foot summit of Sawtell Peak. The route follows a well-conditioned gravel road (ha!), called Sawtell Peak Road, between the town of Island Park, Idaho, and Sawtell Summit.

From the summit, the views of the surrounding area are magnificent. (True, true!) From the top, the visitor gets superb views of Yellowstone National Park, the Centennial Valley in Montana, Henrys Lake in Idaho and the Madison Valley in Montana. The Grand Tetons in Wyoming and the Pioneer Mountains in Montana are also visible way off in the distance.

The Sawtell Peak Road, while in good condition, does climb quite steeply (Really?) and has many sharp turns and switchbacks (You don't say?). Due to the steep nature of the climb, cars with trailers, while not prohibited, aren’t advised. A normal passenger, however, will have no problems (Ha!!) driving the route except during periods of extremely wet weather.

I was definitely in full freak-out mode on this well-conditioned gravel road. I'm pretty sure Cara has some incriminating video of me on her camera phone... However once we got to the summit the views were spectacular. It was gorgeous!! And windy.

Did I mention windy??

 

Apparently  the FAA operates a flight traffic control radar station from the summit. This is what we could see from way down at the cabin.

It was all fun and games until this happened...

 and this...

 
Everyone but me thought that posing like you were falling off of a 9,000 ft tall mountain was the funniest thing ever... I'm a fuddy-duddy... They were on a ledge... It scared me. Moving on...

After enduring the high winds and taking in the majestic views on all sides we set off back down the mountain gravel road. But we had to stop for a quick snowball fight! Who doesn't love playing in the snow in July??

 

 

It was a fun adventure and I am glad they talked me into going!