Although as I hike I often look back down the trail for many different reasons, it still seems that when I finally do start the trip back to the trail head, all of the scenes have changed. The Mt Silcox trip was no different.
October 6, 2010
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Montana Outdoors 
You’ve left me speechless today, Terry. I have no words for this kind of beauty.
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Comment by Robin — October 7, 2010 @ 6:30 am
I’m glad that you like seeing this part of the country, Robin. Getting to see these kind of scenes is one of the rewards for venturing into the roadless areas where nature has not been disturbed to any great extent. These are the mountains that I have loved all of my life.
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Comment by Anonymous — October 7, 2010 @ 10:52 pm
I just love the far reaching vista view of the first photograph and the third photo with the little winding trail. All scenes are luscious.
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Comment by Anna — October 7, 2010 @ 8:48 am
The deep canyon in the first photo is the Clark Fork of the Columbia River valley and the view is toward the east, up the valley. The Cabinet Mountain range is to the north of the valley and the Coeur d’Alene Range is to the south.
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2010 @ 11:04 pm
My favorite of this lot is the third, too. There is just something about a path, especially one leading to such beauty.
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Comment by sandy — October 7, 2010 @ 2:09 pm
The trail is part of the Forest Service trail system in the Cube Iron – Silcox roadless area. They are interconnected and there are over a hundred miles of trails there. Toward the bottom right of the last photo you can also see part of this trail, the tiny line just above the trees. They are, for me, irresistible!
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2010 @ 11:06 pm
do you ever get tired of hearing “beautiful, gorgeous, amazing”? because that is what all of these are….you must breathe those words every day!
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Comment by silken — October 7, 2010 @ 5:51 pm
Maybe that’s why I photograph these places instead of trying to describe them, silken, but even the photos fall short of the beauty there.
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2010 @ 11:09 pm
Wow, what a place to live. These are incredible.
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Comment by Cait — October 7, 2010 @ 7:38 pm
It is an incredible place Cait, and I love living here but yet there are very few folks who actually get up into the mountains to see them like this.
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2010 @ 11:13 pm
am i missing something? why no fall color?
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Comment by Sandy — October 7, 2010 @ 8:56 pm
This trip was on August 23, Sandy. The fall colors hadn’t started yet. I’m hoping to visit there again in a week or so: the larch should be in the fall dress by then.
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2010 @ 11:15 pm
All of these photos are awesome. Do You have sometimes the feeling that all these splendid landscape are ordinary? I think that no.
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Comment by sartenada — October 7, 2010 @ 10:39 pm
No, I don’t take these scenes for granted. They are spectacular examples of what this part of the world was like thousands of years ago, and they provide me with a close tie to the natural world of which we are a part.
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2010 @ 11:18 pm
Such a deep blue up there in that sky. Love those light fluffy clouds too. Glad you get to enjoy all that beauty up there!
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Comment by Stacey Dawn — October 7, 2010 @ 11:02 pm
The air over the mountains is quite pure, for there are no large sources of pollution anywhere near, and on clear days, the sky is deep blue. It’s so good to breathe in that air and feel the breezes and winds: those things don’t show up in photos though. I’m so glad that I can still get up there to enjoy it too, Stacey. For years now I have worked quite hard on physical conditioning so that I am able to get there, and it has been well worth the work!
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2010 @ 11:22 pm
One of the first things I noticed when hiking as a kid was that mountains normally seen from, say, a postcard view turn-off are often hard to recognize when seen from another angle.
Malcolm
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Comment by Malcolm R. Campbell — October 8, 2010 @ 6:49 am
They sure are. I have spent hours on mountain tops trying to figure out which are which. It can be difficult even with a good map. The hikes this summer into the Cube Iron have really helped me fix in my mind the lay of the land though.
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Comment by montucky — October 8, 2010 @ 10:15 pm
What a pretty hike. Those mountains are so gorgeous!
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Comment by songofthewolf — October 8, 2010 @ 12:58 pm
Yes, it’s a very pretty place to hike. I always love it when I can get up high and so be able to see all of the mountains in the distance. I have hiked to many of them and they appear to me as old friends.
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Comment by montucky — October 8, 2010 @ 10:17 pm
Hi Montucky, My favorite of this set of pictures is the one that is next to last. Are the tall thin trees Spruce? If so, I saw some Black and some White Spruce in Alaska. Neat looking trees.
Have a great evening tonight and day tomorrow!
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Comment by wildlifewatcher — October 8, 2010 @ 7:38 pm
We have lots of spruce in this area, but those very pointed trees are Subalpine Firs. They thrive at the higher elevations because their shape helps them to dump the heavy snow load in winter. On the lee side of those ridges there will be 20 feet or more of snow in the winter.
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Comment by montucky — October 8, 2010 @ 10:19 pm
Everyone is right, we need more words to describe your photos. There is something about a path in a photo that, of course, just naturally leads us in and makes us want to see where it goes.
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Comment by Candace — October 9, 2010 @ 1:18 pm
Believe me Candace, that path attraction is not just in photos! I have walked many, many miles just to see where the trail was going and I’n nearly always glad I did.
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Comment by montucky — October 9, 2010 @ 9:46 pm