Sunset From Dome Mountain,
Cabinet Wilderness, Rocky Mountains, Montana

On a late afternoon hike from camp on Upper Cedar Lakes in the Cabinet Wilderness in northwest Montana, we climbed the trail up to the summit of Dome Mountain.

It was early September -- autumn up this high. The alpine larch needles were a golden yellow, and the huckleberry bushes were burgundy red, still with berries. We awoke from our tents to find a light coating of snow on us, with more up higher.

We reached the summit of Dome Mountain on the Cabinet Divide Trail just at sunset. It was getting dark fast, and we were far from camp down at the base of the mountain. We had no headlamps or flashlights, but the fresh snow provided all the ambient light we needed to follow our tracks back down the trail to a very welcome night's sleep.

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