Sheephead Mountain

Sheephead Mountain ©

June 16, 2012, Joel Hawk

 (Click on pictures to enlarge)

This promises to be quite the adventure due to the lack of information out there.  With my hiking buddy, Jack “Motor” DeFranco, I know it will be a successful summit and fun day, but I found it disturbing how extremely difficult it was to find any kind of gouge pertaining to this hike.  All the research I did trying to map the trail indicated that we would crisscross between private and public lands and that always makes me uncomfortable.  I’ll be honest now that I’m back home and it’s been a few weeks/months since I did this hike that I knew I was on private land a couple of times, but it was just for a short time and only to get from forest land back to forest land.  The forest boundary is not marked very clearly and since we are respectful folks not leaving anything other than footprints and not taking anything away other than memories, we pressed on and hoped for the best.  We stayed on the trail all the way and then on the road and did not do any open country hiking on private property that we knew about.  Fortunately, we did not come across anyone during our hike so we did not have to have that conversation (I knew I was faster than Jack if we needed to run – but that’s just between us).  If you choose to do this hike, go at your own risk – and please, be respectful of private land.

I’m a little ahead of myself on this adventure, so let’s back up a little.  We drove a couple of miles along Kitchen Creek which is paved and found the gate which identified the trailhead. 

There are no signs indicating this was the way to Sheephead, but once again, GOOGLE Earth is your friend.  The few hike bloggers we did find information from indicated this is where they had parked.  We were surprised at the number of hikers and bikers we saw traveling along Kitchen Creek Road and have promised ourselves we would follow this road farther next time we had a chance.

It is a fairly well marked trail following a road and then a path up to the point where you take a turn and follow a wash up the mountain.  Some folks before us left us some pretty blatant signs we were on the trail…although helpful sometimes, this takes away from the natural beauty of our lands so I don't encourage these type of acts. 

I always try to see where our destination is soon after starting and could see in the distance what was before us.  Just looking at this challenge from this particular vantage point I could tell there was some bushwhacking ahead, but I knew it would all be worth it.

We know we crossed into private property for a short bit before we left the road at 1.3 miles and climbed up the wash following pink ribbons.  We weren’t sure exactly where to turn up, but the pink ribbons were a “clue” for us to follow.  I told Motor, “Yes, I think this is the way to go”…and then I saw him already climbing up the wash.  That Jack fella, you gotta keep up if you go hiking with him!

About 100 yards up following the pink tape we found a National Forest sign.  Sure feels better being off the road and safely on public land. Loved this sign once we found it again.

Just after a few minutes and a really steep incline, I turned around for a breather.  Going to be fun coming down.  It’s amazing how different one views reality when they are consumed with their own thoughts and then see pictures or has conversations with others.  I just knew I was climbing a zero degree vertical hillside yet when I look at a picture Motor took, I could tell it was just an average steep climb.  Just the same, it was good exercise and a great trip.

After making the summit, we weren’t sure why it was called Sheephead, but I did see this rock formation on the way up.  Could it be the likeness of a sheep’s head or is it just my imagination?  I’m cool with my imagination if that’s all it ends up being.

After a challenging climb, we made it to the top of Sheephead.  We couldn’t really see anything on the summit that looks like a Sheephead, so that’s why I think the rock formation on the way up justifies the namesake.  It was really windy on the top so we had to hold onto rocks and our hats to keep from blowing away.  Here is the register at the summit.

Having a snack, this is my Australian pose.

Being the benchmark hound I am, I had to find this survey marker and it was really easy – it was just sitting out there for all to see.  I couldn’t tell for sure, but the date looks like it’s dated 8/8/1955 which is 4 months and 10 days before I was born.  And the 8/8 part is Chris’s, my dear loved one’s birthday.  Yep, this was a good climb with some good karma.

It was a clear and windy day, so we could see for miles and miles.  It’s always interesting to see mountains and peaks we’ve climbed in the past from a different angle.  Here are a few shots of the beauty of our lands.

This is Cuyamaca and Middle Peak in the Cuyamaca Mountain Range.

This is an interesting Ranch just below us (most likely the property owner we crossed over to get here).  Sorry buddy if we offended in any way, but we were good stewards.

Motor was happy for the break and then got me tickled about something (as usual).

Far too soon, we had to head back down before the owners came back to the ranch below, so off we set.  I knew this was a steep climb.  Jack took a shot of me coming down the mountain – ok, I was sliding a little (or a lot).  They don’t call me Mass-n-Motion for nothing….

If I were to offer any advice for this hike, don’t go it alone and it’s not one for the family.  More importantly, Lamb hikers don’t try to do Sheephead.

Be safe, enjoy living and appreciate our lands.   ~ Joel

Directions and the numbers:

Travel East on I-8 and exit on Sunrise Highway.  Travel to Kitchen Creek Road.  You will cross over a cattle guard and Kitchen Creek will be just a few yards up.  This is in the Cleveland National Forest, so displaying an adventure pass is required or you risk getting ticketed.  An annual pass is only $30 or so and a daily pass is only $5-$8.  For the joy we get in return, it’s a worthwhile investment.  Total round trip is appx 3.4 miles with a 1238 total ascent (straight up) with a max elevation of 5937 ft.   Overall this took us about 1 hour and 33 minutes travel time.  This is a difficult hike and not recommended for the family. 

32° 49' 17'' N; 116° 27' 50'' W
32.821262, -116.463925 (Dec Deg)
550179E 3631600N Zone 11 (UTM)

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