The cottonwoods are turning color

Sacajawea Peak trail # 385

On Saturday I hiked on the trail to Sacajawea Peak in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains. It is not as scenic as some of our trails here, staying mostly inside the forest, but a pleasant one none-the-less and some of the Western Larch were in full color. Grouse were plentiful, there was a fair amount of bear scat on the trail and some very fresh wolf scat, probably deposited earlier in the morning (bear scat from the previous day was frozen hard, but the wolf scat was still very soft – if you’re interested in such things). The trail (USFS trail 385) is steep in places and goes through some fairly wild country: I hiked only a little over four miles of it which gave me a climb of 1700 feet and six hours on a remote trail with no one else anywhere around, which is always a good way to spend a day.

Fall colors along the river

Fall colors are beginning to show here now. These are along the river near home. The Larch higher up are just beginning to turn color.

Clouds over Corona Divide

Decorating for winter

The wire that shows at the base of the skeleton in the second photo is a remnant of the communications wire that was strung to the fire lookout at the top of the mountain, dating back probably to the late 1930’s. Several times over the years I have thought about removing it, but I think it should remain as part of the history of the place, and Nature will reclaim the metal in it in Her own good time.

Tops of the clouds

Sometimes, at just the right elevation on a mountain trail, one can see across the tops of the clouds.