no country for old men...

[BuzzH]

Just got back from a horse packing trip for work in the Frank Church...mean country.

Had some work to do down past corn creek a ways, 58 miles roundtrip to be exact. Rode for 56 miles on horseback and thats a lot for me.

A few pics:

The salmon river, just barely visible from the top of west horse point:'

View looking toward stoddard:

Looking back toward corn creek:

Divide between the salmon river and selway river:

saddle we crossed between thirteen mile and stripe mountain:

View looking toward stripe mountain, with a tree species you dont see often...larix lyallii...sub-alpine larch:

Riding out about halfway down west horse point:

Shortly after I took that last picture we had a wreck with the pack horses behind us. Had a horse roll off the trail, but luckily regained its feet. One more roll and it would have been over a cliff...dead...and in the bottom, not fun.

Other than that one incident though, smooth trip for the most part. Heading into the bighorn crags next week on a shorter pack trip.

 

[Grady]

Very cool.....That's another place I want to go someday.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Real Nice Buzz, My butt is still sore from our 30 miles in NM. We saw a group of Forestry Service workers riding some nice stock in NM also. Thanks for the Pictures. John

 

[noharleyyet]

58 is a poke Buzz....outstanding pics, thanks.

 

[elk_hunter]

Awesome pics. Man that is rugged country, but it's gorgeous!

 

[Oak]

Rode for 56 miles on horseback and thats a lot for me.

What Buzz is saying is that he's been back for 3 days and still can't sit down.

Great looking country!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Good looking country and great pics Buzz.. See any good critters?

 

[Bambistew]

Nice pictures Buzz. Thanks for shareing. What were you doing out there? Looking for trees to hug or what?

 

[TheTone]

Lucky! That many miles on a horse would about drive me crazy. Some cool country to "have" to work in. Were you in Island Park a couple weeks back doing some work?

 

[BuzzH]

Ridgerunner,

Didnt see any critters up there, but saw a lot of elk, deer, sheep on the road into corn creek. There was a bit of elk sign up high, but not much. Didnt see much old sign either.

Bambistew, yep, looking for some trees to measure...height, age, all that stuff.

TheTone,

Nope, I wasnt in Island Park, but we have some people that work over that way. I've spent most of the summer in SE Idaho and in the Salmon country.

 

[smalls]

Is that the same type of larch south of the interstate 20 or so miles east of Missoula? It turns yellow in the fall with a color similar to an aspen?

 

[BuzzH]

Nope, not the same larch, thats larix occidentalis (western larch) near Missoula. The lyallii is only found at high elevations and is usually a stunted looking tree. Lyallii has a pretty limited range, you dont see it much. Both species turn yellow and lose their needles in the fall though.

 

[smalls]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

 

[TheTone]

Gotcha on the IP. I ran into some of your folks over here looking at water run off on a road where we had a fire last year. I believe the gal I talked to said they were over from Boise.

 

[T Bone]

Buzz,

Gorgeous country. Thanks for sharing. That's unique employment you have.

Have fun in the Crags. Please post pics!

 

[JoseCuervo]

Uhhhhhhh....... Wouldn't it be easier to just jump in a round boat and let gravity and hydraulics move you down the river??? (ignoring the minor climb from the water to the ridge.....)

 

[BuzzH]

JC,

Still waiting to float the middle fork for work...maybe next year.

I did jet boat down river a ways and back this spring...a minor climb was involved with that trip as well.

 

[ashersdad]

Great pics. Sounds like a fun trip. Did you see many critters?

 

[rosco]

Awsome country, thanks for the pictures.

 

[brymoore]

God's Country. I'll be in there in October.