Sandpoint Late April
I arrived here with unexpected but welcome weather. The day I arrived it was 60F (15C). The next day it rose to 70F (21C) then yesterday it was 87F (30C). And it was glorious if unexpected.
The image above gives a sense of what dawn is like on such a day. The air is still cool enough to need a jacket. The warm light sits lightly above the cold blue of the forested mountains. The undulation of the mountains reflecting the breeze-swept water’s surface.
And so, I ventured out yesterday, unable to contain my wanderlust to see what this early summer could conjure up. I took this tired old broken-down body into the Cabinets and ended up hiking about 9 miles of mostly snow-closed road. Although it felt like summer one does not have to venture far to find where winter has not yet released its grip.
The Cabinets are a rugged range of mountains on the border of the Idaho panhandle and Montana. They get their name as they are said to resemble a jumble of cabinets wiht their sharp corners pointing in every direction. I don’t know about that but I can say they are always steep and unrelenting to hike in.
The rivers are full of snow melt. The Pack, Clark’s Fork, and Bull all swirled with energetic currents. Smaller tumbling streams would be turbid or bright depending on the geology from where they emerged.
The pine duff of the forest floor was still matted and compressed by the weight of winter’s snow. Still small flowers were emerging. Glacier lilies and these I would call celandine or perhaps buttercup.
Spring arrives here later here than in England, where the blossoms are off of most of the cherries and yet in full plumage here. In the Cabinets, higher up, it is even farther behind where in England most trees are leafed out, starting with the hawthorn and horse chestnut, and ending with the oak. Here the buds are just forming.
The day is bright and warming rapidly. I forgot to bring shorts and will come to regret it. I sip water continuously as I walk higher and deeper into the forest. The walk is popular as evidenced by the parking lot. I don’t expect bears as a result, though I still have bear spray with me. Though it is a glorious day, I bring my camera more for documentation than an artful purpose. A bright cloudless rarely delivers good opportunities. Still, it is good to keep thinking about it.
The moss on the trees here betrays the rich moist saturated air one could expect normally in a wet spring.
I am always a sucker for backlit fresh growth. The more vibrant greens testimony to the newness of this world.
As I walked higher and deeper into the forest, I encountered more snow. Wet slushy or with a crust, it provided unstable footing. Last November, I badly twisted my ankle in such conditions and am still recovering my strength. I do not look forward to another painful hobble of three miles like then. Discretion overtook any sense of valor, and I turned back shy of my destination. There will be other days more suited.
My walk back presented a wonderous view of the Cabinets across the Bull river valley.
