Kelly Lake: On Tuesday, August 5th, I hiked into Kelly Lake for a quick overnight trip. This lake is about a mile cross-country into Idaho off the stateline trail between Kid and Mud Lakes; about 5 miles one way. I initially went into this lake on a day hike in 2023 after looking at it for a couple years. I wanted to spend a night at the lake for a better experience. There are no fish at the lake, just solitude and quiet. I took the same route as I did in 2023. On the way to the lake I saw a 4-5 point bull elk. I was standing at the stateline between Kid and Mud Lakes admiring the view down into Kelly Creek when I heard something behind me. It was a bull elk that had just come up the trail from the Mud Lake side. There were a clatter of hooves and he was sprinting back down the hill; he didn't pause for a photo. When I got to the lake there was a cow moose with a calf; they didn't stick around either.
Although the lake has a nice park-like feel, finding a camping spot was not easy. The whole flat is covered thickly with bear grass and/or a rough low brush. I eventually found a spot just next to the outlet to pitch my tent. Just back in the trees from there is another spot that will accommodate 2 maybe 3 tents. I never found a fire ring. I was hoping to find my lost sunglasses along the shoreline where I filtered water in 2023 but to no avail. It was a quiet night with just a couple local deer waking me up with their stomping and snorting. I was up early for the fantastic sunrise and headed back to the truck.
As in 2023, I cut down across the basin from the ridge and intersected the trail to Kid Lake along the way rather than go around on the ridge like I did on the way in. I met a guy (Msla) and his 2 boys at Kid Lake, his youngest's first backpacking trip. There was an outfitter at the trailhead getting their horses ready for a trip down Kelly Creek.
Stevens Lakes: On Friday August 8th, Skye and I hiked into the Stevens Lakes which is outside of Mullan, ID on the west side of Lookout Pass. Stevens Lakes are very well known in the Spokane/CDA metro area and get a lot of traffic. It is a short but steep hike to the lower lake and then we continued on to the upper lake. The upper lake is only about 200 feet above the main lake and is an easy hike on a good trail. It was threatening to rain the entire time at both lakes and it was downright cold at the upper lake. Enough so that I changed out of my wet shirt into a dry long sleeve. We met at least 10 different groups for the day at the lake or on the trail.
