Lowland peaks in Indian Valley makes for great spring hikes.
- May 2, 2021
- Team: Dave
- Peaks
- Peak 5208
- Willow Ridge, 5280'
- 7.2 miles, 2337' gain, Class I & 2, 3:49 hours c-c
- Peak 4767
- Payette County High Point, 4763'
- Lists of John
- Idaho Climbing Guide
- 3.5 miles, 1006' gain, Class I, 1:32 hours c-c
Note: click images to see a larger version in a new window
It's officially Mud Season here in McCall. No access to the higher peaks, and everything is wet and muddy down below. So it's also time to explore the surrounding lowlands. Today we will visit Indian Valley, south of Council. So cracking open the Idaho Climbing Guide (aka "the Dear Tom Lopez book") for directions, we had driven about 25 miles south of Indian Valley to the start of our ascent. The sign on the gate states this is Wild Horse country. |
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We followed the route in The Guide for a while, which follows a road to the top, but then took off cross country. Along the way, we got a good view of Willow Ridge, our planned second peak for the day. Our route will cross this slight plain, then wrap around the ridge to the right, cross a creek, and climb a peak that is out of sight on the right. |
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After wrapping the ridge, there's our first peak. |
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After crossing the creek, it's a steep pull back onto a ridge. |
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Flowers along the way. Dave has taught Ruby to pose, so I might as well take advantage. |
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Nearing the top. Easy Class 2 cruising. |
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Summit shot. Yes, it was windy. Neither of us could keep our sun hats on our heads. |
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Our next peak. Good eyes will note a road of sorts going straight up it. |
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| Ruby and Dave on the summit. |  |
| Looking back. |  |
| And doing a loop back to the truck. |  |
| Map |  |
| Our next two peaks were of a similar nature, with shorter approach and less gain. The point was to get my 900th LOJ peak today. But where we had intended to start this hike-- which was also 100% road-- there was a band of sheep (click to see a bigger version of the photo, then zoom in a bit). So instead, we drove up the road about 1/2 mile. A very bumpy 1/2 mile indeed. |  |
Hiking the road. Road hiking is not all that bad. Lots of views. No one else around. Time for some hiking conversation. |
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| On top of Peak 4767, Ruby flushed a bunny that ran into the summit cairn. She's usually not this excited about cairns. |  |
There's the high point of Payette County over there. As advertised in The Guide, it's about 5 minutes. Then came a good tromp back to the truck followed by about 25 miles of good gravel back to the pavement and finally home, just a bit late for dinner. |
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Map |
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| Dave's photo blog |  |
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