Idaho Exposure

Despite foregoing fishing in favor of an earlier start crossing south to the Boulder Chain Lakes, it is already 11 am when my goal, the saddle (on the skyline, hidden behind the black buttress mid-frame), becomes apparent from the southeast end of Cove Lake. I decide to drop down to Island Lake to take advantage of a ridge climbing southwest to the same point reached alternatively by contouring across the loose talus on the right of the photo. This ridge is evident below the sharp peak on the skyline.