Due Date!!.. and a Short Hike

Today is our due date, however as of this typing there is no sign of "Baby Vickery" arriving imminently.  Katie has her doctor appointment tomorrow so maybe we'll know more then.  For now, it is day-by-day!

With Katie's approval I used the nice weather and "lack of babyness" to go on a short hike in the Boise foothills.  After leaving the house, I tuned in the Jaguars game on the satellite radio and listened to them achieve an opening day victory.  As that was playing out, I drove up the 8th Street Extension which was quite rough - I got my old LeSabre up this road in 2001 and now there are a few spots where I wasn't sure about the Escape making it.  But all was well and I was soon hiking uphill toward Peak 6218', an extremely obscure peak along the Boise Ridge.  The hike promised to be short, only a half mile each way.  I started in an open area but soon found myself trying to avoid increasing amounts of brush.  It soon became evident that the peak is surrounded by an unbroken thicket of chaparral and other vegetation which I would have to confront directly.  What I assumed would be a short and easy hike turned into a arduous slog through thick, chest-high (and higher) vegetation.  Eventually I made the summit, which fortunately features a small rocky area devoid of the brush that was everywhere else.  The views of the surrounding area were good, including the Bogus Basin area, Boise Peak, and Gardiner Peak.  I decided to descend a different way (a more western aspect) but found the brush to be just as bad that way.  On the way home, I drove down Bogus Basin Road which is a much better access route than 8th Street for this area.

In short, I don't really recommend anyone climb this peak unless that person likes miserable plodding through thickets.  Maybe it would be better in late Fall?

Trip statistics:  1.25 miles, 650' elevation gain, 1.5 hours
Peak 6218' Hike Pictures