Day Trip to Sheep Mountain

This is another one of those trips that was a repeat of an earlier hike that I had taken with Dog. I was looking for a place to hike on a warm weekend day that was close to Colorado Springs, one that would afford me a climb, so this was a reasonable choice.

Sheep Mountain (there are probably many mountains so named) is on the south side of Pikes Peak. Though there are several approaches to this 12400 foot mountain, I opted to follow my previous path, which started off of Forest Service Road 378, which is reached from Gold Camp Road. I drove to the former community of Clyde, which is now little more than a bend in the road, where I turned onto FS 378, then followed FS 378 as far as I could. FS 378 is well maintained since it is an assess road to the Colorado Springs reservoir system, but is gated just before one reaches the reservoirs.

On the way up I was flagged down by a couple on foot asking for help on getting their car unstuck. Since my vehicle was not equiped for towing, I let them use my cell-phone to call their friends for help. I then continued on up to the end of the road, where I noticed their four-wheel drive truck stuck in a marshy area near a stream. Not every vehicle can go everywhere, I thought.

I parked at a wide spot in the road by the gate, blocked my tires, shouldered my pack, then headed out. The route is at first a 4-wheel drive road, FS 376. It crosses the stream, then zigzags up a ridge. I remembered this road as an old, seldom used road, but is now apparently used frequently by off-road motorcycles, All-Terrain Vehicles as well as 4-wheel drive vehicles. The road was an easy grade for hiking, but looked like it could be a challenge for most vehicles as it was pretty rocky in places. At any rate it was a pleasant early morning hike up through the trees, with patches of snow in shady spots, and ice-covered rivulets attesting to the nighttime temperatures at this altitude.

The road topped the ridge then headed down into a flat little valley called Bull Park. I thought I could save having to lose a couple hundred feet of elevation then climbing back up at the other end of the park by contouring around a hill to my right. This however put me into boulder fields filled with fallen timber, so I descended down the hill to pick up the road which ran around the edge of the flats.

I stopped at the far edge of the park, just before the road starts to climb, to grab a bite to eat and study the topo map. I picked the most direct route, up to a saddle on a ridge to the north of where I was at. From this point on, it was off-trail, but fairly easy bushwhacking. I climbed past some signs of human presence - rusted cans and parts of some old machines I couldn't identify - up the side of the hill to the saddle. Near the top of the ridge I found a distinct trail heading in the direction I was going, so I followed it up and over the saddle.

At the saddle I could see my next target, a grassy saddle on an adjoining ridge. After taking a compass bearing and checking the topo map, I started climbing. Below the grassy saddle I picked up a trail which ran straight up the center of a wide draw with the saddle at its top. Following the trail I crossed the remnants of an old barbed-wire fence and wondered what they were trying to keep in, or out, at this altitude.

At the top of this saddle I was on the tundra and the views started to open up. I thought I could see my destination, a small rocky point straight ahead. I contoured around the hill to my left and saw a second rocky point - that must be my destination, I thought. As I continued, a third, then a fourth point came into view from around the hill, and I began to wonder which is my destination? I reached a place between the third and fourth points and could see a higher hill beyond, which I was sure was the top of Sheep Mountain. But this too turned out to be a false peak.

I finally reached a point where I could see Sheep Mountain (I think). Unfortunately, I had contoured a little too high, and I saw I had to descend though a little swale or dip to get to the high point. Here I decided was a good time to grab a bite to eat and put some tape on the bottom of my heel that felt like it might be blistering. I found a rock to protect me from the wind, applied some tape, snacked and enjoyed the scenery - I had a grand view of the south face of Pikes Peak, the upper part of the cog railway and auto highway, and tremendous views to the south and east, including Old Baldy.

After my respite I hauled myself up to my destination. I climbed the rocks at the top and found a glass jar containing a notebook for a register, pencil, candy bars and more things I could not identify. The notebook was placed there in 1987, so the first entry claimed, and the last was only a couple of weeks before. I noted that the early entries were infrequent, but as time progressed, entries became more frequent, reflecting growing numbers of people in the area and the increasing popularity of climbing, I guess.

Though the day was sunny, it still November, and a good stiff wind was blowing. I decided this was a good time to put on a windbreaker, which allowed me to enjoy the scenery in relative comfort. The views of the hills and mountains could only be described as tremendous, but I kept wondering if that hill I had contoured around after reaching the saddle was not higher than the one I was on. The topo map said no, but it sure looked higher.

As I retraced my steps to return I was tempted to climb some of the many rock formations that dotted the expanse of the mountain top, but since it was afternoon, I decided against it. I returned to the grassy saddle and then down the draw. I found the trail I had used coming up and followed it down, around, across the first saddle and back to the road. I saw that coming up I should have continued on the road to the top of the ridge at the far end of Bull Park where I would have found this trail. When I reached the road a caravan of 4-wheel drive vehicles were grinding their way up. Further down the road some ATVs passed me, which seemed the more appropriate vehicle for that road.

I stayed on the road going back, climbing back over the ridge out of Bull Park, then down and back to my car. I noticed the car that had been stuck in the bog off the road was gone, but mine was still where I left it. As I walked back to it, a city utilities worker was just leaving the reservoir area. He stopped to say he was starting to get worried about seeing a car sitting there all day, since when that happens, it sometimes signifies someone is in trouble somewhere. Fortunately, my only troubles were with my muscles, but it was a very enjoyable hike none-the-less.

Back to Top