BY LESLIE REGO
This past weekend my husband, Alfredo, and I hiked the Alpine Creek Divide behind Alturas Lake. This is not a difficult hike, but it is exquisite when the autumn leaves are at their height. The trail passes through a valley, which contrasts the northern boundary of the rounded Smoky Mountains with the southern boundary of the very jagged Sawtooth Mountains. This trail, perhaps more than any other, perfectly showcases the personality of these two mountain ranges.
The beginning of the trail passes through deep woods. Scattered amongst the pine trees are patches of willow and aspen in vivid autumnal display. Hiking deeper into the Sawtooth Wilderness, eventually you enter into open meadows where the southern side of the Sawtooths comes clearly into view. It is quite striking to see the serrated outline of these mountains, with scattered trees clinging to the rocky terrain. Looking over your shoulder to the south you see the heavily forested spherical forms of the Smoky Mountains. What a polarity! Standing in that valley one is privy to the perfect definition of the two mountain ranges.
Eventually the trail joins the Alpine Creek and one begins to walk alongside the gently running water. In some patches, the water cascades over stones, creating small waterfalls, the ripples glinting in the sun. In other areas the water slowed down enough that small pools were formed. The tree-covered Smoky Mountains were reflected in these deeper pools. The reflections were a dark, almost black-green, generating mysterious shadows.
All along the trail the sun caught and played with the autumn colors: the golden yellows of the grasses and reeds alongside the water, the mustard yellows of the aspen trees peeking out from the pines, brilliant yellows of the river willows and the reds of different berry bushes.
If you want to understand how these two mountain ranges fit together, how the vegetation of one mountain range differs so thoroughly from another mountain range, this is a perfect hike to take. The Alpine Creek Divide juxtaposes the soaring sawtoothed outline of the namesake Sawtooth Mountains against the softer, more spherical Smoky Mountains. Here is where you truly begin to understand the nature of these two mountain ranges.
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit www.leslierego.com