Summer has arrived and the mountain creeks are ragin':


Needless to say, crossings were done with some trepidation. Without ski poles, I'm not sure I would have tried.

High water is a sign that the melt has begun in earnest. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it means the end of the ski season is near. On the other hand, it means that the alpine lakes are thawing and the fishing season has begun.

Only the highest elevation lakes are still ice-bound (>8,400'):



Lower ones are thawing nicely:


Fishing was good, even in lakes that are only partly melted:




Flowers starting to come around:




Views were outstanding, as usual:



Oh, and how could I forget, there was some skiing! South-facing slopes had the least snow, but best conditions:


Other aspects were variable. Lots of runnels and suncups:


Worst snow as high, steep, north-facing slopes that were sloppy. No complaints, though:



From here on out the skiing will get worse, but fishing and flower gazing will improve. I'll try to get in a few more days if the weather cooperates.

I especially like your tracks in the last photo!

Thanks Cory. I liked your photos from F of F.

If you look closely at that last photo of mine, you can barely see Z-man's tracks from the previous weekend beneath my tracks. On the upper part, he skied a bolder line to the looker's right. I took the easy one to the left.

What a great start to summer in the Sawtooths!

Jim