I guess time runs short when you are having fun. Our last (non-travel) day in Southeast Alaska had already rolled around. It was another beauty of a day. Bluebird skies, calm as can be and perfect temperatures. Given all that we decided to head out into the ocean again to see some sights. We made the run out Icy Strait and Cross Sound and it was pretty much glass with a few swirling currents.
It’s been quiet around this site for a while but not because there has been nothing going on. Since the last post there’s been a trip to the north Oregon coast,
a ski trip to north central Washington to glide through the trees,
and even a stop at Gettysburg.
But now that spring is coming back around its time to get back outside in earnest.
Hager Mountain Lookout is a popular spot. I’ve been wanting to spend a few nights in a lookout for many years, but reserving far enough in advance before all the days are booked is always a challenge. 6 months and two weeks back we got lucky and there was an opening. We grabbed it. In February I was thinking there would be no snow and spring time conditions. Then March came and with it, finally, winter. The week prior to heading out snow was in the forecast again. But by the time we were headed to the trailhead the storm had passed, dumping a bit of snow along the way, leaving us with a nice blue sky day to head to the top of the mountain.
After leaving Stanley and the Sawtooths we headed south through Ketchum for a quick restock for the remainder of the week and then we were off over Trail Creek Summit to the headwaters of the Big Lost River. It was a homecoming of sorts, going back to a place I worked over 20 years ago. But mainly it was a visit to one of my favorite places of high mountains, lakes and streams. This is high country, with valleys over 7,000 and elevations topping out over 12,000. October gets to be a bit late for a visit due to cold overnight temperatures in this country, but it’s hard to get away much earlier in the year, so we made the best of it.
The first destination was Kane Canyon. We were hoping to get up to Kane Lake, which may just be my favorite high alpine lake, but quickly encountered snow on the trail which slowed us down. Snow, ice and short fall daylight led us to turn around with about a half mile left so we could get back to the trailhead and find a camp before dark. It was still nice to get up into the mountains.
We were back down to the trailhead with plenty of light left. Someone had cut some large rounds of Douglas-fir and left them at the trailhead. A portion of two rounds was all we needed to top off our firewood supplies for the rest of the trip so we quickly did just that and then headed down canyon in search of a camp. The canyon is full of beaver dams and willows and we kept saying, “There ought to be a moose in there!”, and sure enough there was. Just a couple of horns and some flicking ears at first, but then he came out to say hello.
