On Sunday, July 30, 2017, we decided to hike up into the Caribou-Targhee National Forest located between Heise and Victor, Idaho. This section of the national forest is the western most area of the forest. The Caribou-Targhee stretches from west Yellowstone National Park all the way down the west side of Grand Teton National Park and then stretches further west along the Snake River. We started our hike at the Morgan Summit parking lot.
Our first destination was the Hidden Vista. The trail was well worn and led through a mature forest with lost of diversity.
The vista did not disappoint. It looked like a landscape painting in pastels:
We followed a side trail around the summit.
From this vantage point, we could look down another valley.
As we continued out trek around the summit, we were treated to numerous wild flowers.
Before long, we reached the Hawley Gulch Overlook. It was hard to see the gulch through all the trees.
As we continued our hike, we were treated to more and more wildflowers.
In the 1970s, the forest was hit with an infestation of pine beetle. After the dead trees were cleared, lodgepole pine was combined with other native varieties to produce a healthy mixture of species. Diversification of tree species and age affords protection against recurrence of the devastating epidemic. Here we walked through a grove of aspen trees.
After finishing our loop around Morgan Summit, we decided to head over to the Pine Loop Trail. On the way we were treated to more wildflowers.
As we hiked down from the summit, we saw cluster after cluster of blazing red paint brush.
The Pine Loop Trail is a figure eight lollypop trail. We dubbed this section of trail, "Leaning Tree Meadow."
While the trails are well marked, they are not well named. It took a little bit of topo map sorting to make sure we completed the figure eight.
After finishing our hike, we decided to drive further north through the forest:
Before long, we left the woods behind and entered the rolling grasslands of the Idaho plateau:
As we followed the old Hogs Back Road, we were treated to immense views in every directions. We now understand what they mean when they say, "Big Sky Country."
We drove past mile after mile of amber waves of grain.
While this old barn may seem like a relic of the past, the farm is still an active high tech operation.
Our adventure took us from the banks of the South Fork of the Snake River, through the woods of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, and out into amber waves of grain. As much territory as we covered today, it was only a small drop in the bucket. We can't wait to come back to Idaho and explore the Bitterroot Wilderness. Stay tuned.
Thank you so much for this great description of your adventure. I found your blog entry when I looked for information about Morgan Summit. We too had trouble finding trails before due to lack of signage/names. Do you happen to know of any online maps or tail descriptions that would help with this? Thank you again
ReplyDeleteWe never found a map online. We ended up using our Garman Hiker GPS. We also stopped at the trailhead and took a photo of the National Forest Trail Map.
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