Moose Creek, Idaho
I've already shared a handful of digital photos from this trip and those can be seen in the posts below. A couple weeks ago I sent off a few rolls of film, and when I got the scans back I realized I missed the first roll that I finished once we got to Moose Creek. Once I find where I put that roll, I'll send it in and hopefully we'll get to see those before too long. Consequently, the photos here are from our last evening in Moose Creek and then the flight out.
- The Flight to Moose Creek
- A Smoky Wilderness
- A Meadow in the Mountains
- Smoky Skies and a Fire Tower
- Idaho Selkirk Wilderness
The Flight Out
Like I talked about in this post Idaho Selkirk Wilderness, the smoke was really thick the morning we left and cast a dirty haze over the mountains. Nonetheless the scenery was breathtaking, and the smoke helped create depth in the layers of ridges that stretched to the horizons.
These photos definitely have a different feel than the digital photos I posted. They are shot on Fuji Superia Xtra 400 and lightly edited in Lightroom CC Classic. At first I felt like it was "cheating" somehow to edit film photos digitally. However, the minute you scan them to a digital file you are essentially taking a digital photograph of the negative and editing it, thereby kind of losing whatever mystical idea we might have about film being the pure medium. All that to say, I edit my film shots.
Hope you enjoy these mountain views. I definitely did, and nearly got a stiff neck from craning around checking out everything as we flew past it.
Moose Creek
This location is sometimes heralded as a Pilot's Getaway, and for good reason. The history of this camp and airfield is rich. In the early 1900's, the first forest rangers came here to survey and get a lay of the land. The first buildings were built in the 1920's and are still standing today on the end of the shorter airstrip. In modern years the station is manned by a single volunteer during the late spring and summer months. This person is flown in and stays for 6-8 weeks, keeping the yard watered, the firewood cut, and checking in daily with the next station down the river. It seems like the most idyllic lifestyle, even though the work is hard and the labor is all manual. It is located in a wilderness area meaning no mechanized tools or equipment. The airstrip is mowed by a team of mules, with an old fashioned sickle mower. It's truly a paradise, lost in the wilderness!
The Selway River
As my wife, and the other couple we flew in with were hanging out at the campsite, I took a trail from our campsite down to the bridge which you can see in a few of the photos below. It's pretty neat for me to be able to see the places we went to from the air. You should be able to get a decent handle on the lay of the land from the "map" I labeled.
It was quite dusk by the time I got down there and I didn't have a tripod, so I carefully handheld each of the shots below at anywhere between 1/30th of a second to 1/4 sec. They aren't technically the greatest photos, but they remind me of the evening quite well.
The terrain is steep and awesome, takes your breath away!
It's incredible to think this bridge and others like it on the Selway, were constructed with materials and tools that would've all had to be flown or mule packed in. The nearest road is 25 miles from this bridge.
As soon as I get my other roll of film back from the lab, I will write up another post showing you more photos from the ground, as well as an abandoned ranch on the Moose Creek that we hiked to, and crossed the river to explore. This was a trip I won't soon forget, and I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity.
Thanks for reading!
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