Drive In the Mountains - Part 3

By mid afternoon we had left the beautiful, snow covered mountain town of Stanley, ID and were slowly making our way back the way we had come.

Retracing our steps, we wanted to stop a number of times on the way back, to take pictures of the fast moving and freezing cold Salmon River.

These pictures were taken just on the outskirts of the town..............

Looking back towards Stanley and the Sawtooth Mountains..............

Brief stops at a number of pull-offs that were found along the side of the winding road, as we headed back towards Clayton and Challis.

There are no words to adequately describe just how beautiful of a trip this was.

The snow, the sky, the mountains and river and pine trees.

It was all very wonderful and even though the day was gradually slipping away from us, and even though it had been a long driving day, we enjoyed every moment of it.................

I was standing along the side of the road looking out over the river during one of many stops, when I happened to glance down the road.

Across the road about 100 feet from where I was standing I noticed a rock formation, and stood staring at it for a moment, surprised.

Even from this distance (and even at a time when the bright sunshine of earlier was beginning to fade into increasing cloudiness and watery sunshine) I could see a face in profile, and I stood transfixed by it.

I could see the forehead, the eye, the nose, mouth and chin.

It was all there in rock, and partially hidden among the trees..............

We stopped for a long time at this place, and trudged through knee deep snow..............

As LC and Kory continued making their way through the deep snow while heading towards an overlook that........over looked the river.........I stopped for a moment to inspect this place.

The steps led down to  a trail, but were so covered with snow that I dared not try to walk down them.

I could see that there was a trail that was covered in snow "down there", and I could see a beautiful view of the fast moving water.

One more place that I resolved to see again when the snow was gone in a few months..............

After hanging back to snap some pictures, I turned and stood in one place for a few moments, watching my guy and my dog.

LC was trudging.  Kory was dancing and jumping and sinking, and then dancing some more.

My Florida dog who adores snow, and views it both as a huge snow cone and her own personal play thing.

They were circling their way back to the Tahoe, and although I instinctively knew that there was more to see here, I also knew that it was all buried under snow.

Smiling at them while they kept moving, I also headed towards the truck.

We were still a long way from home...............

I caught up to the other two, and then made a grab for my camera again when I realized that something underneath the snow had Korys undivided attention.

She enthusiastically shoved her nose down into the snow and then jumped up excitedly, before burying her nose again.

After doing this repeatedly (with me each time wondering if she would have something in her mouth when she came up for air). she shoved her entire head into the snow.

I have no idea what she was after, but thankfully Kory did not get it.

And then she happily rolled in the snow, before reluctantly loading back into the Tahoe..............

The mountains between Challis and Mackay...................

We had noticed them on the drive up the valley earlier that day, and on the way home we pulled into Mackay Reservoir so that I could snap some quick pictures of the ice fishing huts.

We were only an hour from the house by this time, and I looked out onto the ice enjoying the sight of these little structures, while at the same time in awe that the ice was thick enough to hold the little buildings and the hardy fishermen..................

The world is a wide place where we stumble like children learning to walk. The world is a bright mosaic where we learn like children to see, where our little blurry eyes strive greedily to take in as much light and love and color and detail as they can.

The world is a coaxing whisper when the wind lips the trees, when the sea licks the shore, when animals burrow into earth and people look up at the sympathetic stars. The world is an admonishing roar when gales chase rainclouds over the plains and whip up ocean waves, when people crowd into cities or intrude into dazzling jungles.

What right have we to carry our desperate mouths up mountains or into deserts? Do we want to taste rock and sand or do we expect to make impossible poems from space and silence? The vastness at least reminds us how tiny we are, and how much we don't yet understand. We are mere babes in the universe, all brothers and sisters in the nursery together. We had better learn to play nicely before we're allowed out..... And we want to go out, don't we? ..... Into the distant humming welcoming darkness..........Jay Woodman