Air, land and water

Protect them as though your life depended on it.

Missing the high country

This time of year when snow and ice close the forest access roads into the mountains I severely miss hiking on the high country trails. It is a good time to visit some memories of the past fall.

These photos were taken in September of 2010 about two miles south of the Eddy Peak lookout along trail 1130 toward Cherry Peak in the Cherry Peak roadless area of the Coeur d’Alene Mountains.

Scene from September

There are a group of photos taken on a trek in September that haven’t yet been posted. I thought I would work them in when I haven’t much for new ones. This one is a scene in the Cherry Peak roadless area in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains south of Eddy Peak.

In the clouds

These photos were taken from near the lookout on Eddy Mountain in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains on 9/22/10.

Eddy Mountain Lookout

This lookout sits at the very top of Eddy Mountain in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains and overlooks the Clark Fork Valley on one side and the Cherry Peak roadless area on the other. The present lookout tower was built in 1982 and is still being manned in the summer. There is a road to it, but it is gated off so the last 3/4 mile is foot travel for visitors. The first lookout cabin was built there in 1931.

There is a trail that extends from the road southeast along the ridge toward Cherry Peak in the Cherry Peak roadless area. The last two photos were taken from a couple of miles down that trail.

(The lookout is near the right side of the photo)

(Telephoto)

Above the clouds

Today’s outing was not what I had anticipated, but there was still plenty of nature’s beauty for those who love clouds. I visited the lookout on Eddy’s Peak although it is now closed for the season, and hiked from there way back along a trail into the Cherry Peak roadless area. The trail was not what I expected and the weather was, well, different. I shot (and will probably post) far too many photos like this one: there’s just something about a sea of clouds.

The photo was taken looking toward the west from Eddy Peak in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains. On the right side of the photo, the Clark Fork River valley is about four thousand feet below those clouds.