Hiking in the Craig Mountain Wildlife Reserve

I joined eight wonderful people today and hiked about six miles, in the Craig Mountain Wildlife Reserve.  The sign at the rest stop indicated we were at 4689 elevation.  We drove from Lewiston, out to Waha, and then about 16 miles up and up until we reached an old logging road, gratefully inaccessible to motorized vehicles.  We passed several groups of ATVs and watched even more unload at the rest stop area.  It was a gorgeous day, but we did see a little patch of snow in the shade.

Scott Fletcher is one of the


organizers of the hikes and he also does a lot of research and scopes out the trails long before we join him.  He told us about the cabins that were used by loggers many years ago.  Now they've fallen into disrepair.  We couldn't help but wonder how these loggers managed to live in this remote area...did they have a well or windows?  The moss growing on the logs added color and intrigue to the ends of the building.  Andena collected moss on the last hike to spruce up the pots on her deck so there was no collecting of moss today.

I loved the wildflowers - so happy in the warm sunshine!

Not all pristine!

Enjoying the view, which made the 6 mile trek worthwhile!

Way in the distance we could see snow covered mountains, Eagle Cap, near Enterprise, Oregon!

The well-maintained out house was a welcome sight after all the water we consumed on the trail!


We enjoyed our packed lunches in the sunshine and then headed back to our vehicles, tired, but filled with joy and wonder at God's creation.  I also enjoyed the conversation as we hiked.  I learned that Kathy makes mosiac-like designs on flat rocks and teaches classes when she's in Arizona,  Sue has outlived two husbands, Yvonne told her children many years ago to find a gift in each day and Marie recently retired from teaching high school in Grangeville!

Scott took this picture of Kathy, Andena, Sue, Don, Carol, Yvonne, Marie, and Theresa