On the odd chance that you ever wondered what the exact bottom of an 80 foot tall fir looked like, well, here is how it looks. Must have been quite a storm to leave this 10 foot diameter root ball in a vertical position and the tree in a horizontal one!
I felt sorry to leave the lake, but the trail back down was inviting too. And there was a nice surprise near the end. Photos of that to come later.
Montana Outdoors 
YOWSA! I want to be where these pics were taken – SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!! You’re so lucky!
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Comment by Tricia — July 20, 2010 @ 11:45 pm
I heard that area was pretty and I’m glad I found out for myself! I will be spending much more time in that part of the country, visiting other lakes there as well. The good news is that it’s all roadless!
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:31 pm
Montana Outdoors, what a wonderful place. Beautiful lake, trees, and mountains. I envy you except during the winter.
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Comment by Preston — July 21, 2010 @ 3:43 am
Winter is beautiful too, Preston! I do prefer the warmer months though mainly because of the ice on the roads in the winter.
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:32 pm
Wow – it always amazes me the different hues of green. So beautiful! Can’t wait to see what was at the end of the trail!!
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Comment by Stacey Dawn — July 21, 2010 @ 5:58 am
Yes, there’s about every shade of green and the plants are at their peak now.
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:33 pm
Fantastic pictures. I think that you really captured the essence and beauty of the area well.
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Comment by wildlifewatcher — July 21, 2010 @ 10:40 am
Thanks! That’s exactly what I wanted to do so that other folks can get a glimpse of what it’s like there.
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:34 pm
That must have been a storm to topple that fir tree! Gorgeous country and I especially like the 3rd photo!
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Comment by Anna — July 21, 2010 @ 10:51 am
I’ve never quite understood what takes down just one presumably healthy tree like that, but it must have been quite a force!
The diversity of terrain and plant life in that photo are some of the things I like most about Montana.
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:36 pm
I am enjoying your jaunt to Cabin Lake, Terry. Sounds like you have a special ending in store for us.
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Comment by Scott Thomas Photography — July 21, 2010 @ 11:19 am
The ending is not exactly spectacular, but very special to me.
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:37 pm
Wow! Your photos are spectacular! My husband went to Montana once and he couldn’t get over how “big” the sky was. I think I can see what he meant in some of these pictures.
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Comment by Barbara — July 21, 2010 @ 11:51 am
Thanks! The sky also looks big on a clear night. In an area like that there is absolutely no artificial light around and no air pollution. The stars look as though you could touch them and the milky way lights up the center of the sky.
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:39 pm
Outstanding shots! I think I need to schedule a trip to your part of the country next year if I can fit it in. What a sight!
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Comment by Jeff Lynch — July 21, 2010 @ 7:17 pm
I hope you can, Jeff! You will take a thousand good photos back with you!
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:40 pm
Sounds trite, but “WOW” is all I can think of to describe these photos and Cabin Lake, soooo beautiful.
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Comment by Candace — July 21, 2010 @ 9:34 pm
That’s what I think of that area too, Candace, and yet few people visit it.
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Comment by montucky — July 21, 2010 @ 10:41 pm
Wow – that rootball and base of tree is astonishing! 10 ft diameter? Phew! There are woods around our area, doubt the trees are as big as yours there though we’ve a lot of conifers. My sister lives near a redwood forest which is impressive though the trees are more tall than wide.
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Comment by absurdoldbird — July 22, 2010 @ 7:38 am
This was an unusual sight because so much of the root system stayed together when the tree fell. I didn’t measure the diameter of the trunk, but it looked to me no more than a foot and a half. Not even close to the size of a redwood.
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Comment by montucky — July 22, 2010 @ 7:45 am
Nice place for a canoe, though packing it in doesn’t seem like much fun.
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Comment by knightofswords — July 22, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
If I saw someone packing a canoe in there, I sure wouldn’t mess with him!
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Comment by montucky — July 22, 2010 @ 4:27 pm
What a pretty green-blue the water is. And the sky in the last photo…
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Comment by kateri — July 22, 2010 @ 5:47 pm
The lake looks like it is fairly deep, causing that color.
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Comment by montucky — July 22, 2010 @ 9:17 pm
Stunning scenery. This seems to be place where I could hike. I enjoyed Your photos very much. The photo number fourth from up, is just pleasing me most of all.
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Comment by sartenada — July 26, 2010 @ 3:45 am
I’m sure you would enjoy this place, sartenada. It’s a very pleasant and cool hike in mid-summer.
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2010 @ 8:16 am
thank you for these beautiful virtual postcards!
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Comment by silken — July 26, 2010 @ 8:38 pm
You know, I hadn’t thought about the old scenic post cards for many years. The digital ones are much the same though, aren’t they!
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2010 @ 10:32 pm
What a great range of photos, so much to enjoy in each one!!
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Comment by digitalphotoalbum — July 27, 2010 @ 12:04 am
Thank you, Kerstin, and thanks for visiting!
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Comment by montucky — July 27, 2010 @ 8:04 am