Want to try some wintertime rock hounding in Idaho? Hiking in the Owyhee desert is the perfect cold season get-away. How about blazing your own trail up peaks only but a few have attempted? All this and it's just a 1 hour drive from Mountain Home.



(February 2, 2012) This rock hounding trip was a long time coming. I've been eying this small but completely cool looking peak along the Owyhee Front for over 3 years. With obvious “volcano” looking characteristics, I was hoping to find some cool rocks. The hike was wonderful with brilliant blue skies and the usual solitude of the high desert.

The Hike
One of the problems in this area is finding a parking spot off Poison Creek Cut-off Road. Yeah, you can pull off the shoulder of this gravel road but one never knows how soft and gooey the shoulder will be until you get down there. So I decided to play it safe and park on the side of a double track trail heading almost straight towards Peak 4189.



My dog Addie and I headed south on foot along double track trail. Pretty simple walk that gradually climbs the further south you go. Once this trail ended, we headed off-trail straight towards the easily identifiable Peak 4189. Again, the grade is rather slight as it approaches the base of the peak.

Once at the base of Peak 4189, the climb gets steep and rocky. But it wasn't long before we summited out. The sweeping views from the summit are incredible even though the peak only rises about 500 feet above the plains where we parked. As usual, the winds on these Owyhee peaks were quite a bit stronger than down below.



The hike back to the car was mostly off-trail along 3 different dry washes. We explored a few man-made objects out there and followed a few game trails. Yep, there are still deer, antelopes and coyotes alive and roaming the Owyhee Front. Plenty of tracks and scat to prove it.

Hunting Some Cool Rocks
The rock hounding was a little disappointing on and around Peak 4189. There is an abundance of bright white quartz and some near clear chunks up there. But nothing I saw made me want to bring a specimen home with me.



Obviously someone found something of interest on the flanks of Peak 4189 as there is a mining claim marker up there. Because the claim marker was just lying on the ground, I suspect the claim is abandoned. I'm reasonably sure if I had made a real effort, I would have found some cool rocks but this was just an exploratory trip. In other words, there wasn't any “low hanging fruit” just lying on the ground. I'll be back for some serious rock hounding later in the winter or early spring.

GPS Track Map of the Peak 4,189 Rock Hounding Trip

View Larger Map


Peak 4189 Hiking Statistics
Total Distance of Hike: 3.56 human miles. About 20 Addie Dog miles
Elevation Gain/Loss: 553 feet
Average Slope of Entire Hike: 6%
Average Slope from Base to Peak: 20.1% in about 1/5 of a mile

The Land
The entire hike was done on public lands with a majority owned by the State of Idaho. BLM lands, as usual in the Owyhees, made up the ownership of the rest of the hike.



This is ranching land and the entire hike was done on the East Castle Creek Rangeland Allotment. Expect cow patties along any route you take from car door to the summit of Peak 4189. The predominate vegetation was unfortunately “cheat grass” with areas of sage brush.

The Rough Mountain Quad Topo Map show this peak has an elevation of 4189, while my GPS unit showed the (un)-true elevation at 4,140. I seriously don't know if my GPS unit is off by almost 50 feet or the 1992 Topo Map is wrong.


Thanks for visiting the Bondyweb,

So where the heck is the snow line in the Bennett Hills? How deep is the snow along any section of Bennett Mountain Road? Why you might need to plan 3 different hikes during the winter. Is Ron Paul a hunter? Is backcountry skiing possible near Mountain Home, Idaho? Find out the answers to these questions.



(January 29th, 2012) Needing to get out of the house, I planned a short trip in the Bennett Mountain Road area north of Glenns Ferry. The snow level was a concern as it would determine which path I would take. With 3 plans mapped out, Addie, my dog and I headed up to “the hills”.



Ron Paul Makes Hiking Option “A” is a No-Go
My first plan was to hike straight west along the “Bennett Hill Front” where I suspected the snow would be gone. The drive up the paved part of this road had me excited. I could see that the route Plan A would follow was basically snow free. I headed up to the paved parking area on Bennett Mountain Road but encountered a hunter with dogs just getting ready to head out in the direction of my hike.

I chatted with this gentleman and indeed he was going hunting along my planned route. Not a problem for me except...This hunter looked and sounded exactly like the Presidential Candidate Ron Paul. It wasn't Ron Paul, or was it?



Plan B Option has a Barrier
Plan B was to drive about 1 mile past the paved parking lot, park and hike along a creekbed to the west.
As you can see from the picture above, the road was closed by snow. So I decided this was more ambitious than I wanted to get. Hiking 1 mile on Bennett Mountain Road and a few miles off-trail in 6-12 inches of crusty snow did not sound like fun. And if it's not fun why hike it? Plan B was a no-go.

Plan C is the Only Option
Plan C was the simplest and most flexible plan. That is, just walking along Bennett Mountain Road. And that's what we did. It was a nice 3.2 mile hike along Babb Flats. The road, as I mention was closed to cars and trucks but open to snowmobiles. I really enjoyed this walk in bright sunshine and warm temperatures. Bennett Mountain Road has become one of my “go to” places because of the easy access and scenic aspects.

Snow Levels At?
The snow level on January 29th, 2012 was approximately 4,400 feet give or take a dozen or so feet. I'd say the average snow pack was about 8 inches along the way.



Backcountry Skiing Possibilities
I've never really thought about backcountry skiing but it seems like Bennett Mountain Road could provide some excellent places to ski. A lot of the hillsides are treeless and the hike/ski/snowmobile into these peaks wouldn't be all that bad for the person in good shape.

Thanks for Reading!

At the end of December 2011, I wrote a post about the Top 4 Mountain Home Area Blogs. I was hoping someone would take me up on the offer to start a blog or at least get some information about getting one started.

Yeah, that went over like a “lead balloon at the life-preserver convention”. Just as well I doubt anyone in Mountain Home could maintain a blog for more than a month...it's just not what we do here. A blog, personal website and even a business website seems to be considered unnecessary.



But There Are Idahoans Who Write...and Write Interesting Stuff About Idaho
I present you, 3 different blogs that are well written, interesting and gives Idaho a voice. They seem to see Idaho as a special place and don't take it for granted. They reach out and embrace life in their own special way.

1. Mores Creek Summit Backcountry Skiing Blog



Parked on the Google blogging platform and their own domain, Chago, Ender and Fritz tell us about backcountry skiing in the Mores Creek area of central Idaho. And were the heck is Mores Creek and the associated mountain peaks said blogger write about? This area is just north of Idaho City.

Link to this blog: http://www.morescreeksummit.com/

2. Hiking in Idaho.Com Blog



The Hiking In Idaho.Com website doesn't look like anything special....at first. The front page doesn't promise much until you hit “The Hikes” page and you get to see the real meat and potatoes of this Idaho hiking website. Eric, the author, has posted over 200 adventures from his outdoor adventures.

Probably Boise-based, Eric's home turf seems to be the Boise Mountains, Sawtooth Mountains and the Trinities but he does wander into Oregon and other western states. Read his trip reports, take a look at some of the amazing pictures and hit up his YouTube channel for some variety.

Link to Hiking in Idaho website: http://www.hikinginidaho.com/hikes.htm

3. Our Retirement In Idaho Blog



The “Our Retirement in Idaho” blog is Boise-based and only partially outdoor based. Written by Bob and Robin and around since 2007, this blog is semi-eclectic. But it certainly shows what can be accomplished by baby boomers, a digital camera and computer.

With photo posts from around Boise, restaurants and home life as the main subject matter, some may not find it interesting. But Bob and Robin have monetized the website and are probably making some spare cash just from telling their story.

Link to this Boise Blog: http://retirementinidaho.blogspot.com


Comments
Maybe someday Mountain Home will also have a thriving blogging community. Eventually our business community will be forced into the on-line world of the Internet but will the world have already passed by Mountain Home before it happens. Playing catch-up is always harder when behind by 4 touchdowns than by just a field goal. Leave a comment any time...7 days a week 24 hours a day.