We took the backroad up, a road which to my knowledge I have never traveled. The road was very rocky and unforgiven. Honestly it was so ridiculous in places I craved something I rarely do, big tires and a lift kit. Nope I did not get those extra bad places as I was too busy trying to keep metal from scraping :P
We took our time, even getting out in places to walk the road, to see how much farther we had.
Mind you, the road was not horrible, but it was bad enough I was a bit worried about a bent Rocker Panel or drive line.
We climbed, crawled and spun as we churned up the hillside, occasionally getting a glimpse of the wonderful view into the Pintlers, something every person on earth should get a chance to see.
We careened on up the road, finally stopping to call a friend who is six cans short of a six pack and mountain bikes up this ridiculously high road. I needed to see how much farther I was, I suspected not far but I had broken one of my cardinal rules on Gas, always going into the woods on a full tank, yet here I was hovering at the quarter of a tank, which is what I used to get this far :O
He would confirm that we indeed were not far, so we went forward. We were at the last bad spot so the final rocks to crawl over were all that was left to a spectacular view.
The Mountain itself lives up to its name, windswept and grassy. It was logged Barren during the days of the Anaconda Smelter and now suffers from some ridiculously high wind as a result. Since this lookout like most others no longer needed in the US is uncared for, I was a bit surprised to see it partially collapsed. I remember standing inside whne I was younger, able to Imagine what the lookouts saw for months at a time on their station.
It was sad but it is what it is. Like so many of Americas land marks, it has feel by the way side while Government Agencies pick and choose what to care for. |
It is indeed sad, as I would have loved for my Children to have had the same experience I did, to stand inside this, and other magnificent lookout towers and look upon incredible 360 degree panoramic views.
In the end, the person with me got to see what I had been pining about, and while he had previously tried to talk about going up here, he admitted even what was left was pretty damned cool.
We would make it out and back to town to get gas in the event you are wondering. I was really not worried provided I made it back to the highway anyhow. I had ran out of gas in the same area a long, long time ago, and using the doors of the truck as a sail we had.... well that is another story.
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