Peak-Top Pickup Picnic

We saw no aliens.  We did see mule deer.  And, we could see almost forever from the top of Black Mountain around dusk last night.

The plan in the morning called for Bill to come home from work as early as possible, and then we'd head up the Twenty-Mile Road near Naples.

I guess we each had different goals.  All day long, I thought we were going to Boulder Meadows, especially because Bill had told me about a family who had ridden the trails in and around the meadows on their horses this past weekend.

The big news connected with that story was that the Forest Service is doing some major improvements on the Twenty Mile Road, known for its rough and rugged bumpiness. 

I almost thought Bill was hinting at maybe climbing on a horse sometime and hitting the trails in the meadows.  

Not so.  He was more interested in checking out the road, especially for wood cutting possibilities.  He told me when we left that we weren't going to the meadows.  

I was a bit disappointed but still happy for a late afternoon drive to the mountains.  In fact, I'd fixed a sack dinner of Wood's German sausage sandwiches, chips and vanilla Oreos. 

So, we headed off and soon we were seeing the results of that road work as we seemingly glided around curves and felt nary a bump while climbing up Twenty Mile, which offers some splendid views of surrounding mountains. 

After expressing his pleasure at how much better the road was, Bill turned onto the not-so smooth-as-silk Black Mountain road, which leads to a point where an old lookout (with stairway blocked partway up) and several communications towers jut skyward from the rocky surface. 

Our bumpy ride to the top was enhanced by the occasional spotting of beautiful and not so spooked mule deer.  

Seems Mulies like to stand and look before jetting off through the woods.  After seeing more than our share of whitetail all spring, summer and fall, I rather like this brand of Bambi's with their cute faces and big ears. 

As we continued upward, I worried about diminishing light for the photos I was hoping to take once we reached the top.

Lighting wasn't the best, but we still stood in awe and shivering while looking northward and downward onto the Kootenai Valley and clearly seeing Canada's Kootenay Lake in the distance.  

Turning south, we could see a pretty good view of Lake Pend Oreille, and to the west, the always familiar and welcome sight of iconic Chimney Rock in the Selkirks. 

It was COLD up there, so we hurried through the "ooh's and ahh's" of enjoying the mountain and lowland scenes all around us. 

Twas dinner time.  

I pulled out the jars of mayonnaise, mustard and relish, along with the prepared picnic goodies. We enjoyed our meal----definitely a first for us to sit under towers, dining at dusk on a North Idaho mountaintop. 

After finishing, Bill got out to do some looking and then climbed back in, saying, "If we'd had a full moon, we'd stay to see it."  

That was not to be, so he directed the pickup down the rocky Black Mountain Road and didn't mind letting it glide down the much improved Twenty Mile Route. 

I guess a fall trip to the beautiful Boulder Meadows will come on another day.  This was our first visit to Black  Mountain in years and well worth the trip. 

Best of all, no outerspace invaders, and that German sausage slapped in between Swiss cheese and Mennonite whole wheat bread was pretty good too. 

Today, no adventures but definitely a day when I'll think about the fun we had on our peak-top pickup picnic.  

Happy Wednesday.