White River Park, a huge ponderosa pine savanna.
South Fork of the Flathead River, near the confluence with the White River.
Big Prairie. The building in the distance at the lower right is a backcountry ranger station.
The Big Prairie Ranger Station, one of few backcountry stations that are staffed (during the summer and the fall hunting season only).
I stopped to chat with the ranger to find out if there were any new forest fires or other things I needed to be aware of. The only thing was a winter storm warning that had just been issued for the next 36 hours, with up to three inches of snow possible above 7,000 feet. I was glad to be in lower country.
The ranger asked where I started out, and when I told him Swift Dam his eyes got big. "That's quite a trip!" He asked if I'd seen anything, and I told him about the wolverine. He nodded at my camera and asked if I'd gotten a picture. I showed him the pic, and he said "Yep. That's a wolverine. You're a lucky man."
Old corral at the Big Prairie Ranger Station.
Horse gate.
A few miles later I reached the closed trail my new friend from Missoula had told me about on Day 10. I'd thought it was a recent closure, but it had been closed since 2007. I'd heard the Forest Service trail maintenance budget had been cut, and this appears to verify that. I took the closed trail to avoid the several extra miles of the detour. A lot of dead trees had fallen across the route, so it was a bit of an obstacle course.
Natural reforestation at work.
Red-tailed hawk.
Why the trail was closed. I had to do a little scrambling and grab onto some of those roots above the "trail" to get across the scree.
Browsing buck about 25 yards from where I was on the trail on the hillside above him. He didn't hear me until I had already taken this picture.
When he saw me he just froze, as though I wouldn't see him if he didn't move. I wanted to throw a rock at him to get him to run. That foolish behavior is going to get him shot in about a month.
Wild raspberries.
This is where I camped on Danaher Creek. I didn't get any winter weather, but I got plenty of weather. Luckily it held off until I had made camp, eaten and made my bear hang. Then the rain came fast and heavy. A good rain is nice once camp is made and you're in the tent. It rained just about all night, so I took Day 13 off to avoid slogging down a muddy trail. My feet appreciated the break. I did a food inventory to see how many more days I could go. I was getting a little low, so I figured I needed to be out by the end of Day 15.
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