A search for a trail, surprise #2

Friday’s search for the beginning of an old trail was successful, but equally satisfying was a surprise at the beginning of the descent, when we walked right into this herd of elk, who had been snoozing just over a rise from where we made our ascent. After all of the time spent last fall hunting for them…

(See if you can find all thirty in the following photo.)

I especially like the two last summer’s calves at the left side who seem to be discussing the situation.

Almosta hike

Sheds. That was today’s excuse.

It’s still not spring. The trails that can be approached are too icy for hiking.

It’s not still winter. The snow’s too icy to walk on, not deep enough for snowshoes.

However… I was reminded by a friend the other day that it is about the time of year to hunt for sheds; last year’s antlers worn so proudly by the deer and elk and “shed” in late winter or early spring. The deer have already shed theirs some time back, and the elk are still doing so. It’s a “this time of year” sport in these parts to go looking for them and it can be quite lucrative: they sell for some amazing prices.

In my case, it was an excuse to try a hike on some steep south-facing ridges in the Patrick’s Knob roadless area where the elk spend much of their winter on open, grassy slopes like this one. The lower areas at least, are already free of snow.

In the late summer or early fall, the “velvet” covering an elk’s new antlers begins to itch, signaling that the antlers are fully formed. The bull will rub trees like the one in the next photo to rid his new antlers of the velvet, polish them and give them a preserving coat of tree sap. They often return to the same areas to get rid of the old antlers in early spring, and those are good places to find sheds. But not today.

Soon after the display on my altimeter passed 3,600 feet, a thousand feet above the Jeep, the ground was frozen hard and last night’s snow was causing the steep slope to be slick and hazardous. I stopped to eat a sandwich, admire two extraordinary trees and get one last photo overlooking the Clark Fork River flowing through its deep canyon between the Patrick’s Knob roadless area and the South Siegel roadless area.

I know now that the sheds are much higher up the ridge, resting in the deep snow, waiting for the next trip when spring really comes to the high ridges.

In search of a trail (2)

Yesterday my son and I tried again to find the lower end of the Fourteen Mile trail (USFS trail 1714), this time in 4 inches of new snow, and tasted a little success with the discovery of some old blaze marks on a tree a few hundred feet above the river. We lost it soon after because of the snow but I’m sure now that with the appropriate topo maps I will be able to locate it, although not until most of the snow has melted.

The following photo illustrates why I want so much to find the trail. It was taken from about three miles from the Jeep and a thousand feet above the river, and the top of the trail is still several miles and 3,500 feet further up the mountain. I have to think the views from the upper reaches will be worth the climb.

Our companions at this point were five huge Big Horn rams who were also looking out over the river. The trail is in the Patrick’s Knob Roadless Area of western Montana’s Coeur d’Alene Mountains and the country across the river is in the South Siegel Roadless Area.

Worth a climb

I have long held the opinion that mountains can be properly viewed only from high places. Here are a few photos from the home of this season’s first Buttercup:

A Big Horn’s view of the world

(Big Horn sheep habitat in the Cabinet Mountains overlooking the Clark Fork Valley with the Coeur d’Alene Mountains in the background.)

East shoulder of Patrick’s Knob

(A knob just to the east of the lookout. This is the view the Buttercup has to the south. It is within the Patrick’s Knob roadless area.)

The Clark Fork Valley

(Viewed from a thousand feet up the southwest slope of Henry Peak.)

Clark Fork River
 

(A backwater of the river rimmed with ice.)

In search of a trail

Today I spent a few hours searching for the lower end of the Fourteen Mile trail (USFS trail 1714), with little luck except to find several great locations where it isn’t.

This icefall along the highway was rather pretty though

and I enjoyed seeing an eagle soaring above a sharp ridge in the Patrick’s Knob roadless area,

jumping a dozen head of elk on this rocky hillside above the river,

and admiring the winter-green water of the Clark Fork flowing between its ice-caked banks.

 

I’ll find that trail yet before spring: it’s still going to be a long winter.

A walk in the clouds

Yesterday I hiked the first couple of miles of USFS trail 1714 into the Patrick’s Knob/North Cutoff roadless area with the temperature in the 40′s and a light rain falling.

Following are just the first 6 photos from that trip. Walk with me in the clouds.