Magnificent

Derrick and I spent the weekend on the Spokane Reservation, driving the back roads and hiking through remote mountain trails. We saw some magnificent scenery, like this sunset over Matthews Lake and the view from Grouse Ridge Mountain. We rested from the pressures of a modern world and immersed ourselves in a time and space apart.

Even my blog took a rest for the weekend.

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the most amazing part of our trip. We went down to the river before sunrise, just as a herd of elk ascended a narrow mountain ridge. They walked in single file and created silhouettes against the pale blue sky. The bull elk stood at the end of the line, his antlers rising toward the sun.

Just a few minutes later, we saw another herd of elk, even larger than the first. They ran across a field toward the east, casting trails of dust into the sunrise. I'm still kicking myself for not having my camera in that moment.







Francis and Derrick walked up the last portion of Grouse Ridge Mountain.

We drove to the top of the mountain on an old, overgrown logging road that became so steep we had to put my truck into four-wheel drive just to move ahead. Several times we also had to forge a path off-road around fallen trees and other natural obstacles. It was quite the adventure.