My wife was out of town for 4 days and I had gotten a new pair of boots... so what to do? Well, go hiking of course! Mark, Tory, and Steve were also interested, so off to the Owyhees we went for a couple of fun peaks just off of US 95 south of Marsing.

We started in the scenic Squaw Creek drainage with our first goal being to climb Buck Mountain and then Peak 4620. Our first task right out of the vehicle was to cross the surprisingly high-flowing Squaw Creek. We paced the banks and debated our ability to jump the creek. Eventually Tory jumped across, slipped a bit on the landing, but made it over clean and dry. Next up, I decided I couldn't accomplish the feat and tried utilizing a willowy area with the assistance of a large tree branch Steve found. My plan was foiled by gravity and I made it across with wet boots. Mark was next and we won't get into the details, but he didn't stick the landing per se. Steve wisely took off his boots and waded.

After that lengthy and wet start, we started up the steep slope, then angled to the canyon that forms between 2 rocky points and leads to the south face of Buck Mountain. We saw some deer and enjoyed the terrain. We even found a small wall to ascend to add some spark to the adventure.

Soon after, we topped out on Buck Mountain. It was a bit chilly, windy, and cloudy. Now off to Peak 4620.

We dropped to the saddle between the peaks and then up to the base of 4620. We were excited to see that it was a very rocky face and looked to have some fun scrambling. Mark and I headed up a really cool class 3 route to climber's left (on the northwest face) and Tory took Steve and Vujo climber's right.

We enjoyed the views from the top and the increasingly sunny day. From the top we eyed a bridge over Squaw Creek closer to us. So we dropped directly off the southwest face to the road and then followed the dry road to the vehicle. By the time we reached the road it was a full on sun and a blue bird day!

Great day in the mountains with a fun crew.

From the Highway 55/US 95 junction west of Marsing, drive 13.5 miles south on US 95. Turn east onto the road that leads to Squaw Creek. We drove the road for 1.6 miles and parked.

We simply crossed Squaw Creek, gained some altitude on the steep slopes above the creek, then traversed into the canyon that leads to the south face of Buck Mountain.

To get to Peak 4620... from Buck Mountain we descended to the saddle between the peaks and then ascended the northwest face of the peak. There are several lines that will go, but generally the further you go climber's right (south), the easier the climbing.