Kootenai Creek

Selway-Bitterroot National Forest, Montana

Black Friday. Hike or shop...I went for a hike. No other cars at the trailhead when I arrived. It was 15 degrees and lightly snowing when I started on the trail. The first mile closely follows the creek and boy was it icy. While it is one of my favorite creeks to fish in...fishing wasn't happening today!

The further back into the mountains I went the faster the snow was building up. The strong winds from Wednesday had most everything blown clear, and added to the new trees blown down in the creek bottom. I climbed out onto the broader sides of unnamed mountains along the valley. What I found was snow coming down faster and faster. I decided when I got 5 miles in I would have to turn around. When I turned back tracks that were only 30 minutes old were filling in and disappearing.

With the weather being the way it was I kept the camera put away most of the time. I did notice that the ice was building in the creek from the bottom up in a lot of the areas. It has to be really cold for that to be happening and I had to get a picture of it.

When I was almost back to the trailhead I did run across 2 small groups coming out for a walk. While I'm sure they were only going a short way they were about to see some neat ice sculptures by mother nature in the creek.

Wagon Mountain Summit

Bitterroot Mountains Idaho and Montana

Wagon Mountain is the first named mountain on the Montana side of Lolo Pass. The trailhead is in Idaho but you quickly cross into Montana. This is one area that you just wouldn't know you had crossed the state line unless you had a GPS or really know the area.

Although I got an early start, the morning fog had lifted and left the willows along the creek covered in frost. Lots of contrasting colors made for a really pretty sight.

Just 2 to 3 inches of snow along the first part of the route. Fun to follow the Lewis and Clark trail. Glad to see the little trees mixed in with all the big ones. This part of the forest is really healthy.

After a shortcut across one of the valleys on the way I found myself in low brush that was all covered with fresh snow. It made for a pretty way up the hillside.

Really surprised when I saw the summit area on Wagon Mountain. No snow! The brown trees are the remains of a lightning caused small fire from this summer. The fire crews fast action kept it small.

This is the actual high spot on the mountain. The dead tree that was there for so many years finally fell over. After standing on the high point for a little bit I headed down the mountain on a cross country excursion. Followed moose tracks for a bit but never found the moose.

After only a few hours running around I made it back to the trailhead and was on my way home. The wind came up before I left and was the predecessor to a storm that was on its way.