It has been two years since I "kayak hiked" anything, so I decided to use Memorial Day to revisit this enjoyable approach to hiking. I selected obscure Peak 5108' near the tail of Arrowrock Reservoir. After sleeping in and then driving the windy, bumpy road along the reservoir, I reached the first available launch point just after noon. After pumping up the kayak and lugging it to the shore, I was on the water just after 12:30. Because this is near the tail of the reservoir, the kayak portion of the hike was very short (no more than 5 minutes each way).
Once across, I put on my shoes, stashed the kayak, and began the very steep hike up to the peak. The hike up was very direct and unrelenting, crossing open slopes dotted with numerous wildflowers. After about 90 minutes of what seemed like stair climbing, I reached the flat, brushy summit and walked around a bit looking for the high point in the brush. Despite the summit's lameness, there was no prior sign of summit visitation, which is unusual for a peak so close to Boise!
The peak has a great view of Arrowrock Reservoir and decent views of the surrounding area. After spending some time relaxing and refueling, I retraced my steps back to the shoreline and then across the reservoir. Another fun, short kayak hike!
Peak 5108' Kayak/Hike Pictures
Trip statistics: 0.3 miles kayaked (10 min), 2.25 miles hiked, 1900' gain, 2.5h
Good pics. Is that the reservoir just out of town that we saw when I was there? It would have taken me forever to get to the top as I would have been stopping to take pics of all the different wildflowers. Looks like you had a nice day.
ReplyDeleteThis particular reservoir is not visible from any highway. But it looks almost the same as Lucky Peak Reservoir which is most likely what you saw :-)
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