Islands in a sea of clouds ~ Another visit to Corona Divide

Today a friend and I visited the Corona Divide one last time before the weather conditions that create these scenes subsides and found that today there were islands in the sea of clouds.

Ice crystals formed in the track of a wolf.

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A visit to Corona Divide

High pressure has been in place over western Montana for what has seemed like an eternity, trapping low stratus clouds and freezing fog over the Clark Fork River. Viewed from the valley, the clouds dim the light and obscure the mountain tops (and sometimes the mountains themselves) that surround it. Sometimes however, that can bring an opportunity for seeing some very pretty scenery if you can get above the clouds. On a hunch today I took a forest road for fifteen miles to the Corona Divide about three thousand feet above the valley and it turned out to be just above the low dense clouds. The following are some of the ninety photos I brought back from the Divide today.

East of Big Hole

Today a friend and I hiked several miles on an old road on the east slope of Big Hole looking for a trail that has been decommissioned by the Forest Service and abandoned for many years. We found it in pretty bad shape with a large number of trees down over it. It would be nice if we could convince the Forest Service to revive it because it would complete a nice loop that would be good for horse people as well as an occasional hiker.

I’ve included a few photos showing what the old road looks like, followed by some of the things that are in bloom at 5.600 feet. The road was cleaned up last year to allow some heavy equipment to get up to work on the Copper King fire so it will be in good shape for a few years before the Alders again close in over it.

These tiny flowers (about 1/8 inch across) caught my eye but I can’t positively identify them. I think they may be Western Wood Anemones (Anemone oregana) but I’m not positive.

Sitka Alder ~ Alnus viridis

Utah Honeysuckle ~ Lonicera utahensis

Huckleberry ~ Vaccinium membranaceum

Northern Black Currant ~ Ribes hudsonianum

Mount Baldy on a cold, clear day

We are having an influx of cold Arctic air which brings very cold but very clear air into western Montana.

The headwaters of Hinchwood Creek.

Photo was taken at an elevation of about 5,000 feet from the ridge east of the Hinchwood Creek drainage facing the east slope of Baldy Mountain.

Cabin Lake

Yesterday a friend and I hiked to Cabin Lake, one of the many cirque lakes in the Cube Iron/Silcox roadless area in the Plains/Thompson Falls District of the Lolo National Forest here in western Montana. Following are photos of the trail and, of course, the lake itself which sits at about 6,000 feet.

The destination, Cabin Lake

In several places along the road to the trail head, which follows the west fork of Thompson River, it was necessary to build retaining walls to keep the rock slides from covering the road.

At the trail head, this bridge for foot and horse traffic spans the stream that issues from the lake. It is very welcome because the stream would be very difficult to ford.

Along the bottom part of the trail it is covered by the golden leaves of Black cottonwoods; the “Yellow brick road”.

A smaller stream which is fortunately fordable without going over the top of hiking boots crosses the trail.

The lake sits in a glacier-formed recession just above and to the right of the cliffs in the background.

From the middle part of the trail you can see the mountainside that slopes down to the trail head.

The trail tops out in a saddle, then descends down to the lake which sits just below the peak in the distance.

This and the remaining photos are of the lake itself.