It’s funny that you said that. I hiked up that trail about two miles before I turned around. After less than half a mile on the way back down I saw a big pile of bear scat on the trail that wasn’t there when I went up.
So well done – I do like the way the light pulls the viewer into the photo – just as a good trail pulls us farther down the path. And I can feel that ground “giving” a bit beneath my feet. I’ve grown so tired of rock-hard ground through our drought. There’s something lovely about a little sponginess. (As long as we don’t go ankle deep in much!)
That’s one of many trails where scenes like that just pull you up the trail to see more. Yes, the ground there was mostly soft with some actually wet places, some moss, some rotted wood and of course stretches of solid rock. There was a sudden rain that day and the temperature under the cedars was in the 40’s.
I will post some photos of the flowers there later. I did see a new (new to me) species of orchid and another plant that I had read about before but had never seen. That trail is about 7 miles long and climbs from about 2600 feet to nearly 7000 as it follows the course of the stream. Where the stream goes into waterfalls and cascades, the trail climbs the steep mountainside and gets into some sunny places and so there is a lot of variety of shade, sun, wet, dry and changes in elevation. There are dozens of species of flowers just counting the ones that I’ve encountered.
I will be visiting there more often this summer. The flowers there are spread out quite a bit in their blooming seasons and I know of quite a few that have not bloomed yet and I suspect there are others there that I haven’t seen in bloom before. The only problem with that trail is that it climbs nearly a thousand feet in the second mile.
Light, which we usually take for granted, gathers a lot of attention when it penetrates the forest canopy and the depth of the canyon. Kind of like icing on a good cake.
Don’t you wish you could visit there in the heat of summer! You would love it! Perhaps I appreciate places like that more because of the time I spent in the Sonoran Desert.
so many beautiful images, this one, the other posts… you have been in dreamy beautiful places. tis the season.
i went ‘that’ day to the road south of Hot Springs… I looked for your vehicle 😉
i wandered about but never saw a bitter root flower, so i still have that to look forward to. i did enjoy that road and then on towards Plains and to rd . 556 which is gorgeous. A wonderful two days!
I made it over to Camas prairie too and drove 382 all the way down to 200 without seeing a single bitterroot. I was both surprised and disappointed, and I don’t understand why. Too late?, Too Dry? I remember last year seeing a story in the Char-Koosta News (the paper of the Flathead Reservation) about the annual celebration and feast of bitterroots and I didn’t see a similar story this year, if that’s significant. I did see a group of four mule deer bucks with their horns in velvet though, including one that was quite large.
there are always things to find… wandering is a pleasure that way. so glad you saw the mule deer.
wonder if the bitterroot are late, early or not at all….
I was going to say “Mirkwood” till I noticed the glowing sunlit spot beckoning us further into the woods.
How ever did you manage to expose this one properly, with the vast difference in lighted and shadowed areas?
I love this shot, we don’t have big mountains and forests and trails round here, but this reminds me of when I was in BC and climbed through some ancient forest. I sank up to my waist in the leaf litter that had accumulated over thousands of years and felt guilty for disturbing it, but I don’t think I did any lasting damage!
The old growth forests are wonderful to explore. Fortunately there is still quite a lot of that still around and undisturbed (for now). The area in which I live is just south of BC and much of the fauna is the same.
Yes, in these old forests, there are many species of plants and a large variety of animals as well. I hope we will have the wisdom and will to preserve the remaining wild country and its biodiversity!
Lovely image – almost feels as if you’re being watched by a deer or a bear!
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Comment by Jo Woolf — June 18, 2012 @ 12:30 am
It’s funny that you said that. I hiked up that trail about two miles before I turned around. After less than half a mile on the way back down I saw a big pile of bear scat on the trail that wasn’t there when I went up.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:31 pm
That was a close call! Would it have been a black bear?
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Comment by Jo Woolf — June 19, 2012 @ 10:41 am
Yes. A grizzly in that area would be a very rare thing. I see several black bears in that area every summer.
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Comment by montucky — June 19, 2012 @ 10:11 pm
How beautiful! I’d love to hike in your woods…. ♥
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Comment by FeyGirl — June 18, 2012 @ 5:19 am
There are so many beautiful places here and nearly all of my wanderings are in just the Lolo National forest.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:32 pm
So well done – I do like the way the light pulls the viewer into the photo – just as a good trail pulls us farther down the path. And I can feel that ground “giving” a bit beneath my feet. I’ve grown so tired of rock-hard ground through our drought. There’s something lovely about a little sponginess. (As long as we don’t go ankle deep in much!)
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Comment by shoreacres — June 18, 2012 @ 6:01 am
That’s one of many trails where scenes like that just pull you up the trail to see more. Yes, the ground there was mostly soft with some actually wet places, some moss, some rotted wood and of course stretches of solid rock. There was a sudden rain that day and the temperature under the cedars was in the 40’s.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:37 pm
Another beautiful spot that has me wondering what wildflowers might be found in that bit of sunlight.
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Comment by New Hampshire Garden Solutions — June 18, 2012 @ 6:41 am
I will post some photos of the flowers there later. I did see a new (new to me) species of orchid and another plant that I had read about before but had never seen. That trail is about 7 miles long and climbs from about 2600 feet to nearly 7000 as it follows the course of the stream. Where the stream goes into waterfalls and cascades, the trail climbs the steep mountainside and gets into some sunny places and so there is a lot of variety of shade, sun, wet, dry and changes in elevation. There are dozens of species of flowers just counting the ones that I’ve encountered.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:42 pm
Excellent. I’d love to spend a week in a place like that finding all the flowers. Can’t wait to see them in your photos.
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Comment by New Hampshire Gardener — June 19, 2012 @ 6:08 am
I will be visiting there more often this summer. The flowers there are spread out quite a bit in their blooming seasons and I know of quite a few that have not bloomed yet and I suspect there are others there that I haven’t seen in bloom before. The only problem with that trail is that it climbs nearly a thousand feet in the second mile.
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Comment by montucky — June 19, 2012 @ 8:22 am
Gorgeous…I love being out in places like that…spent about six hours out hiking in similar terrain yesterday…my heart is still singing. 🙂
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Comment by seekraz — June 18, 2012 @ 7:13 am
Places like that send you back home with an entirely new outlook, don’t they!
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:43 pm
You are so right, Montucky…and it’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t felt it before…almost beyond words…..
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Comment by seekraz — June 18, 2012 @ 9:56 pm
Yes, it’s so hard to describe, but very powerful!
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 10:50 pm
Incredibly so. 🙂
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Comment by seekraz — June 18, 2012 @ 10:56 pm
I love the contrast in colors on this one.
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Comment by Tammy — June 18, 2012 @ 8:01 am
Yes, it makes me wonder just how many “greens” there can be!
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:44 pm
Wow Gorgeous Super!! It reminds me of the deep deep woods in Allegheny National forest in NE PA.
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Comment by dhphotosite — June 18, 2012 @ 8:35 am
This is in a section of several miles of cedar forest in a deep canyon through which Spring Creek flows.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:45 pm
Love that bright spot of light.
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Comment by Stacey Dawn — June 18, 2012 @ 9:54 am
Light, which we usually take for granted, gathers a lot of attention when it penetrates the forest canopy and the depth of the canyon. Kind of like icing on a good cake.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:47 pm
I, too, love the way the light was captured. Lovely!
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Comment by allbymyself09 — June 18, 2012 @ 11:01 am
The shades of green and those little splashes of light play the siren song that keeps me wandering in the forests.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:50 pm
I love this shot! It shows exactly what it looks like under trees in the dark woods.
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Comment by sandy — June 18, 2012 @ 3:33 pm
I’m very pleased that it came out that way, Sandy! That’s about all I can do, try to show folks what places like that are like.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:52 pm
looks like a magical place-I would love to step into
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Comment by skouba — June 18, 2012 @ 7:21 pm
Don’t you wish you could visit there in the heat of summer! You would love it! Perhaps I appreciate places like that more because of the time I spent in the Sonoran Desert.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 9:53 pm
so many beautiful images, this one, the other posts… you have been in dreamy beautiful places. tis the season.
i went ‘that’ day to the road south of Hot Springs… I looked for your vehicle 😉
i wandered about but never saw a bitter root flower, so i still have that to look forward to. i did enjoy that road and then on towards Plains and to rd . 556 which is gorgeous. A wonderful two days!
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Comment by Tammie — June 18, 2012 @ 10:53 pm
I made it over to Camas prairie too and drove 382 all the way down to 200 without seeing a single bitterroot. I was both surprised and disappointed, and I don’t understand why. Too late?, Too Dry? I remember last year seeing a story in the Char-Koosta News (the paper of the Flathead Reservation) about the annual celebration and feast of bitterroots and I didn’t see a similar story this year, if that’s significant. I did see a group of four mule deer bucks with their horns in velvet though, including one that was quite large.
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Comment by montucky — June 18, 2012 @ 11:19 pm
there are always things to find… wandering is a pleasure that way. so glad you saw the mule deer.
wonder if the bitterroot are late, early or not at all….
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Comment by Tammie — June 20, 2012 @ 8:05 pm
I don’t know. I’ll check there later but I’m afraid it’s past their time.
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Comment by montucky — June 20, 2012 @ 10:03 pm
I was going to say “Mirkwood” till I noticed the glowing sunlit spot beckoning us further into the woods.
How ever did you manage to expose this one properly, with the vast difference in lighted and shadowed areas?
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Comment by Kim — June 19, 2012 @ 8:06 am
I gave it my best try. My camera permits “spot metering” and so I could adjust the exposure for the lighted area.
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Comment by montucky — June 19, 2012 @ 8:17 am
Fantastic photo- suitable for a book cover!
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Comment by Watching Seasons — June 19, 2012 @ 10:09 am
I’m happy with that photo because I think it really does show what the forest looked like at that time. Who could resist going on down that trail!
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Comment by montucky — June 19, 2012 @ 10:10 pm
I love those lush dark forest shots. Very compelling.
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Comment by Candace — June 21, 2012 @ 12:21 pm
I hope they come across OK. The camera just can’t show everything that the eye sees, and it’s so wonderful deep in a forest.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2012 @ 10:23 pm
I love this shot, we don’t have big mountains and forests and trails round here, but this reminds me of when I was in BC and climbed through some ancient forest. I sank up to my waist in the leaf litter that had accumulated over thousands of years and felt guilty for disturbing it, but I don’t think I did any lasting damage!
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Comment by Finn Holding — June 21, 2012 @ 12:39 pm
The old growth forests are wonderful to explore. Fortunately there is still quite a lot of that still around and undisturbed (for now). The area in which I live is just south of BC and much of the fauna is the same.
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Comment by montucky — June 21, 2012 @ 10:26 pm
Awesome fairy tale forest. I love colors, shadows and lights in Your photo.
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Comment by Sartenada — June 25, 2012 @ 2:59 am
It was beautiful that day, although dark. Today here was hot and I went there again: it was 10 degrees (f) cooler than at home.
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Comment by montucky — June 25, 2012 @ 10:17 pm
I love the patches of light you captured in the forest. There must be life of all sorts in your woods. Wonderful area !
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Comment by isathreadsoflife — July 2, 2012 @ 12:55 pm
Yes, in these old forests, there are many species of plants and a large variety of animals as well. I hope we will have the wisdom and will to preserve the remaining wild country and its biodiversity!
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Comment by montucky — July 2, 2012 @ 9:04 pm
I love being in the depth of the forest, and seeing the sunlight pierce its way through a break in the canopy.
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Comment by btweenblinks — July 16, 2012 @ 8:23 am
Especially on a hot summer day!
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Comment by montucky — July 16, 2012 @ 8:07 pm