Idaho experts?

Although I haven't been there, I hear the Sawtooths are quite nice, and they're close-ish to your Boise base. Whether the snow conditions will be favorable this year in late May to early June, I have no idea.

Another option, a little farther away, which will almost certainly meet your snow parameters is the Seven Devils (near Riggins). I did a most enjoyable lake bagging trip there in the second week of June one year and encountered almost no difficult snow except for one steep bank on the loop trail, which required a slightly sketchy climb above it on slightly marbly stuff. The Devils are rugged and wild, with numerous options for peak- or lake-bagging fun. My pics/story:

http://texasbb.net/files/Seven-Devils-2010/

thanks Todd,

The Sawtooths seem to be the premier destination, but high elevation, so I'm guessing they are for later in the season. Seven Devils looks interesting, thanks for the pics.

I hope something works out for you. Note that the main loop trail in the 7 Devils is nothing to write home about…you have to hike in to the various lakes or peaks before things get more interesting. And don't skip the trip out to Dry Diggins lookout–the view into Hells Canyon is spellbinding.

I live in Pocatello. This is the cagey time of year from my wife and me. Our local hills are clear (slight patches of snow) but all the great hiking areas we love are still pretty snowed in. Our window doesn't reliably start until July and even that can come with very dicey passes and high points in the mountains. This time of year, we head south to Utah. We just got back from a great week in Zion. The Seven Devils is the best known mountain loop to generally become (non-winter) passable but it will still be early to go now. We went last year in the last week of June and the pass over the half-way divide of the loop was pretty sketchy (steep ice, cornices, etc.). There are plenty of nice trails in the foothills outside of Boise but a mountain adventure is still a winter adventure throughout most of Idaho.

It might be a little early in the season for this but I grew up hiking in and around the Bighorn Crags in the Frank Church wilderness. The big problem really might be that the road to the trailhead isn't always the best and might be hard to get through if there's still snow and ice. On the other hand I don't think they got a ton of snow this year. I'm hoping to try for a trip in late June this year but like I said, the road up there might be your biggest hurdle. Might be worth checking out, calling the forest service and seeing what the condition the road is. The area itself isn't terribly high or technical

Thanks all for the advice.
Based on what you guys have said, I think I'm going to wait until later in the season. I think I'd rather get to know the area a bit first, before venturing out in potentially difficult conditions.