Coffee's on!
At Jackass Rapid (RM 38) the river pours over sharp bedrock ledges.
A commercial outfitter's support camp at Upper Jackass Camp (RM 38.1)
Hiking early in the morning offers some of the most beautiful light.
The Mortar Creek Fire (1979) burned the hillsides downstream of Jackass Camp. The forests have yet to fully recover.
Nice slanting light on a crisp August morning along the Middle Fork.
This overlook was a short scramble above the trail, but it offered a great upstream perspective around RM 40.
A hiker's silhouette.
The trail crosses several miles of flat river terraces in the vicinity of the Cougar Creek Ranch (RM 41.3).
The cabin at Cougar Creek Ranch.
A hiker investigates the stout construction of the Cougar Creek Ranch Cabin.
Three hikers on a subtle ridge are dwarfed by the surrounding landscape. The cabin at Cougar Creek Ranch is barely visible at the upstream end of the broad flat in the left center of the photo.
A second climb over the top of the Red Bluff Cliffs (RM 44.9) can be hot in the mid-afternoon sun, but it offers a great view of the river below.
The author looks down onto the wide gravel bars and lone rock of Rock Island Camp (RM47).
The hot springs up Loon Creek are a 0.9-mile walk from camp.
River guides and non-hiking guests relax on the gravel bar at Big Loon Camp.
Moonrise over the confluence of Big Loon Creek and the Middle Fork.
Relaxing by the light of an evening fire in camp.