Along the cutoff

For most of its journey, the Clark Fork of the Columbia River flows toward the west or northwest, but for one stretch of about twenty miles it turns and flows east as it cuts through the Coeur d’Alene mountain range before it makes another sharp bend and again flows northwest. Locally we refer to that stretch as “the cutoff”. Along part of the cutoff the river is flanked on one side by the Patrick’s Knob/North Cutoff roadless area and on the other by the South Siegel/South Cutoff roadless area.

This photo was taken from a cliff five hundred feet above the river inside the South Siegel area looking down the river. The mountainside to the immediate left is part of the Patrick’s Knob area. I plan to spend much more time here after the snow leaves. It’s a beautiful, peaceful wild area.