Today a friend and I rode the Black Mountain ATV trail 763 in the Kootenai National Forest of western Montana that climbs a very steep ridge above the east slope of the Trout Creek drainage. It was a very tough ride (and my first ATV trail ride) and the trail was not ridable as far as we had hoped it would be, but still there were some nice views and I learned a whole lot about riding an ATV in rough country.
The mountains at the horizon are the Bitterroots along the Montana/Idaho border.
The body of water is the Noxon Rapids Dam on the Clark Fork River
This is a photo tour of a loop hike on August 29, 2014 through the southeast tip of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. It started with USFS trail 178 at road 148 (3700 feet elevation) to USFS trail 63 then on 63 to USFS trail 360 (the Cabinet Divide trail at 6400 feet elevation). From there, south down the Cabinet Divide a mile and a half or so to USFS trail 489 and back down it about 5 miles to road 148 and up the road to the starting point. The total distance was about 11.5 miles and took 10 hours of hiking.
You can follow the route, the access road and the trails on the Kootenai National Forest Cabinet Ranger District map. (Note: Trail 531 is the old trail number to Bear Lakes: now the same trail is shown on all of the maps as trail 178.)
Trail head at USFS trail 489, Kootenai National Forest
Trail 178, Kootenai National Forest
Trail 178 gains elevation very sharply. Kootenai National Forest
Trail 63, Kootenai National Forest
Trail 63, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Trail 63, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Trail 63, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Trail 63, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Trail 63: Cabinet Divide in the distance – Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Trail 63: Baree Mountain at the left of the photo. It is at the southern edge of the wilderness.
Trail 489 above Baree Lake, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Trail 489, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Trail 489, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Baree Creek Trail 489, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Baree Creek Trail 489, Cabinet Mountains Wilderness
Road 148, Kootenai National Forest (There’s a sign near this one that reads: “No trailers or 2 wheel drive vehicles”)
This is my favorite photo from the trip, taken from the Cabinet Divide trail 360. The three big peaks in the photo are, from right to left, Carney Peak, Flat Top Mountain, and Engle Peak. In a couple of weeks we plan a hike through a pass just to the right of Carney from the far side of the range and back a mile or so along the Cabinet Divide trail. (The trail through the pass and the high Cabinet Divide trail can be plainly seen on Google Earth.)
Photo was taken on August 24, 2012 from USFS trail 541 between Cougar Peak and Graves Peak in the Cataract roadless area looking toward the Seven Point Mountain area.
Hiking six miles on a rocky trail through the Cataract roadless area was a small price to pay for the privilege of standing there in total solitude. Photo taken on August 31, 2012.
About a month ago I posted a few photos of the Cougar Peak Lookout. Following are a few photos taken that same day but from the USFS Trail 541 that goes beyond it. In all but the first photo, if you look very closely, you can see the lookout in the distance.
Montana Outdoors 