And there was a range war brewing between the FBOs. I had no experience with Spirit, but Choice couldn't have been nicer...I almost blushed when they rolled out the red carpet. Dan set me up with a courtesy car and John twice put the meter to a pesky intermitent voltage light...no charge.
Sadly, I didn't make the nightly 8:00PM rodeo..next time. I inquired about the protocol for overflying Yellowstone and was told it was a beautiful flight...so off I went up the Shoshone River valley. I had ridden the route years before and remembered it.
US-20 runs right along the river and the high terrain is stimulating.
Dan didn't mention that 8537' Sylvan Pass isn't visible during the approach....that the view ahead is of a high blank granite wall...
and that at the last minute the pass opens up at a right angle to the route...
dumping you out over Yellowstone Lake...my turbocharger helped take some of the tingle out of the process. Beyond Yellostone Lake lay Jackson Lake...the Tetons and the drainages of both the Snake and the Gros Ventre Rivers
I flew south talking to Jackson Hole tower...a non-radar facility...
then turned and ran north along the Rockerfeller Highway...spectacular just doesn't do it.
After that grand ride, I slipped around the northern edge of the Tetons and landed at Driggs-Miller.
The Warbird Cafe is a terrific spot to sit along the runway and enjoy good food....and what came along but a warbird.
Really a treat to have the owner of the FBO give everyone a mini-airshow in his flawless Grumman Albatross. My day started off perfect and got better.
Jeff Lynes, the NW Huskey sales manager couldn't have been nicer, but we agreed a Huskey for me was a tight fit.
So off to Kalispell...up the drainages so to speak starting with the Madison River past Ennis...
This little booger kept me east and away from Dillon and the Ruby River
I think I see some the granite clouds everyone talks about.
I picked up the Jefferson River up toward Butte and discovered this little pot-hole in Anaconda.
From there it was a beautiful day and a beautiful flight...north along the Clark's Fork to Deer Lake and then beyond Drummond where I followed the Blackfoot river into the Swan-Seely Valley...
past the USFS strip in Condon that sits right alongside 83 south of Big Fork...then Kalispell City Airport
3.8 hours in the air and down for the night.
and a courtesy car with a big red eagle on it and my own yellow flashing yellow lite on top....what a life!
