I typically don't do trip reports for short hikes like this. However, Slack Mountain deserves some recognition, as the scenery on the peak blew Carrie and I away!

The hike started along Deep Creek. We maneuvered between the cliffs, willows and creek. There was a large beaver dam and a lot of beaver activity throughout that section of the hike. The creek was a beautiful blue color.

We then followed a drainage out of Deep Creek canyon, which led us to a small plateau with a view of Slack Mountain to the south. Some hiking through junipers and broken cliff bands led us to the summit plateau of Slacks Mountain. I was expecting trees and not much else. This plateau looked like Craters of the Moon in eastern Idaho! We weaved around the rocks as we crossed the plateau. Sometimes we'd follow a small creek, some rock walls required easy scrambling, there were a few clusters of huge junipers, and sometimes grassy areas. There were flowers, views of the Ruby Mountains to the south and the larger Owyhees to the north, and areas where the gravely soil looked raked. It felt like we were in a giant Zen garden.

The top is kind of lackluster, a few boulders just higher than the surrounding terrain. We found some Indian artifacts and sign of a huge elk near the top (although all we caught was some dust and his backside).

All said, this mountain makes for an excellent hike and was a very pleasant surprise!

After this hike we headed over and walked the snow covered road to the top of Juniper Mountain. Juniper Mountain is more popular and has a lot of prominence, but isn't near as wild or beautiful as Slack Mountain!

Take the Owyhee Back Country Byway either starting in the west at Jordan Valley, Oregon or the east near Grand View, Idaho.

Park where the road crosses Deep Creek. This road is immaculate gravel coming from either direction. Other than dusty, it is doable by any vehicle.

See the GPS track for details. Essentially we followed Deep Creek past some cliffs to a drainage hiker's right. Heading up the drainage brought us to a windswept plateau. We basically just headed south from the aforementioned plateau toward Slack Mountain.