W0C/FR-097
Sheep Mountain
2303 m / 7555 ft
Oct 20, 2015

By KX0R

Sheep Mountain is an obscure SOTA peak on the north side of the Poudre Canyon, right above The Narrows.

Key Points:

• Roosevelt National Forest
• Accessible trailhead
• No marked trail
• Old trails provide a path part way
• Navigation and route-finding required
• Minimal bushwhacking via correct route
• Prominent open summit
• Fine views of Poudre Canyon
• Burned up in High Park Fire of 2012
• Fine HF summit
• Mount McConnel and 7612 are nearby
• Trailhead elevation ~ 6500 feet
• ~ 2.2 miles round-trip
• ~ 1030 vertical feet

Driving Directions:

• Drive to Fort Collins.
• Continue northwest from Fort Collins on Highway 287 to Ted’s Place.
• Turn west on Highway 14, and enter the Poudre Canyon after 4 miles.
• Continue up the winding canyon road, and pass through the Narrows
• Look for the Narrows Picnic Area on the left side of the highway
• A good parking spot is nearby, on the west side of the highway. It’s about 20 miles from Highway 287 to the parking spot.
• Parking is prohibited in some other pullouts nearby.

The Hike:

• Walk across the highway and hike northeast through an open area toward the obvious gulch.
• Just to the right, above the gully, is an eroded hill with hints of a trail.

• Climb up this steep spot, to the eroded orange dirt, rather than hiking directly up the rocky gully.
• A hidden abandoned road 50-100 feet above the gully leads eastward.
• A good game trail follows this track.

• This route ascends efficiently up to the wide saddle at 6860 feet, north of Sheep Mountain.
• Head south from the saddle and climb the north slope of Sheep Mountain.
• It’s steep and eroded, but it’s probably easier than other routes to the summit – there are hints of an old trail.
• At the top of the slope, follow the gentle ridge south.
• Stay just east of a rocky sub-peak.
• A shallow valley leads up toward summit.
• Follow the valley and remains of an old trail
• Climb up the northeast ridge to the top.

Here’s an alternative trip report from K0MOS.  Matt ascended up the steep southeast side of Sheep Mountain from The Narrows.  I believe my route detailed here is much easier.

Additional Details:

The following photo shows the key details of the first part of the climb.  To find the secret trail up above the gully north of Sheep Mountain, you must ascend to the point where this photo was taken.  This is the start of the hidden path up to the saddle north of Sheep Mountain.  Note that this spot is directly across the highway from the south end of the Narrows Campground.  The parking spot is visible down the road to the left.

Because the mountain was burned, there are great views of the Canyon in all directions from the summit:

The prominent summit is very rocky; scorched trees stand all over the slopes.

The large Activation Zone offers several good places to set up with shelter from wind. Plenty of dead trees are available to support an antenna.  The wind forced me to set up my gear down the northeast side below the top.

Sheep Mountain is an excellent HF radio site. There are no higher mountains nearby to interfere with HF propagation. The only development is far down in the canyon, so the HF noise level is low. This is probably a poor VHF/UHF site, as there’s only a glimpse of the plains down the Canyon.

I had a busy HF activation on 7-10-14 MHz, with 30 CW contacts in less than an hour.

Several other accessible SOTA peaks are nearby:

W0C/FR-205 7612                        1.7 miles west
W0C/FR-088 Mount McConnel       2.2 miles southwest
W0C/FR-198 7980                        3.0 miles east
W0C/FR-095 Greyrock Mountain    7.3 miles northeast

Of these, 7612 and Mount McConnel are the best choices for a dual or multiple activation. I had no problem activating 7612 on the same day as Sheep Mountain.

Use caution during hunting season in the fall – wear orange; and be careful about lightning, especially in spring and summer.

73

George
KX0R

---

!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!