Marten, Kelly & Elizabeth Lakes!
Another grand hike in Idaho! Or coulda been. This one went from sun, to some sun, to no sun, to rain, all in the space of a few hours.
Of course it is June, but the weather pronosticator said slight chance of rain on Tuesday, fairly cloudy on Wednesday, then Sun, sun, sun.
What we experienced was sun turning to rain, lots of rain, on Tuesday night, little bits of sun Wednesday day, followed by little bits of rain
Wednesday night, followed by the apparently lead-in to a hurricane Thursday morning. Since picture-taking is my main reason for accessing
these environs, and since it appeared that picture-taking weather was about two years out, we made the difficult decision to bolt for home.
Another reason for disappointment was the fact that Elizabeth Lake, the highest lake in this series, was still hiding under a mantle of snow,
attributable to the higher-than-normal snowpack this area experienced winter past.

You will notice in some of these pictures, that my lens shield got twisted and appears on the edge of some of the pictures below. Grrrrr...

The trail in. This scene representative of most of SW Idaho's forests, i.e., dead, diseased or burned. It is so sad to see our precious forests in this condition, not to mention the loss of the beauty a healthy forest can bring.	Tiny stream coming down the mountain and across the trail. More than likely is a spring that exits the mountain above.
Marten Lake early AM Wednesday.	You will notice that the sky is giving promise of great and scenic things to come. The sky lies.
Marten Lake outlet on the way up to Kelly Lake	You will notice that Marten Lake had a very healthy remainder of snow. When we first arrived, the question was, "Where to camp?"
Hiking partner galumping up from behind, and George in his usual position, last.	Snow continued to clog the trail with greater frequency on the .9 mile section up to Kelly.
You will notice that the Ober above, the first in line, the one we call Coffee Bean, is always 'first in line', in each and every picture. He decided on the very first long hike we did that that was his assigned position, and it has never changed. Right in back of me!	They all, except trusty hiking partner, seem to have forgetten the first order of business... HIKING!
Kelly Lake, a far prettier lake, with far less space available for camping
	Noticed this interesting cloud on Highway 21 headed for Stanley. It is a characteristic for a burnt out thunderstorm to have an 'anvil' shape on the top, but I've not seen one with an anvil shape on the bottom. Nature never ceases to amaze.