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21001 Hits
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80.49% Score
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12 Votes
Page Type:
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Mountain/Rock |
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Lat/Lon:
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38.15881°N / 107.46588°W |
County:
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Gunnison |
Activities:
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Hiking |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
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Elevation:
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13168 ft / 4014 m |
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Overview
Sheep Mountain C is a low 13er located in the northern San Juan Mountain range in Colorado. C because they are actually 4 Sheep Mountains in Colorado, all 13ers (above 13,000 feet high) and all within San Juan Mountain Range.Sheep Mountain A 13,292 feet is located near Stony Pass and Continental Divide trail.
Sheep Mountain B is 13,188 feet, and is unranked mountain since the neighboring peak saddle is less than 300 feet in elevation change. It is located next to ranked San Miguel Peak.
Sheep Mountain D is 13,070 feet high and is located in a remote Weminuche Wilderness.
Sheep Mountain C combines really nicely with unnamed 13100 B peak and you can do it as a nice long hike along Little Cimarron trail. There is not much scree to deal with and if you do the easiest way, it is dog friendly. (I did scramble down a different way and my scramble short cut involved 3rd to 4th class moves).
Sheep Mountain C (right) and UN 13100 B (left) as seen from the approach - after bushwhack through forest, Little Cimarron Trail would be about one mile below.
The views from its summit are spectacular, especially over the 14ers Uncompahgre and Wetterhorn and across the valley towards Precipice, Coxcomb, Redcliff and Fortress 13ers. You can expect solitude here.
Guide to Colorado Mountains with Robert Ormes (sort of a Bible of Colorado mountains) provide some description: "Sheep Mountain 13,1688 gives a fine look at the rough and steep north faces of Uncompahgre, Wetterhorn and company. Unfortunately, to reach it is a marathon. From US-50, 3 miles southeast of Cimarron, turn south on Little Cimarron Road for about 15 miles to reach the Little Cimarron Trail (#229). Where the trail turns briefly west and crosses the 11,000' contour, turn due west to follow a drainage to treeline and then hike up Sheep's broad southeast ridge to the summit. It's a long way in here and you may want to make it a weekend by bagging both Silver Mountain (13,714') and Peak 13,681'. "
Sheep Mountain C as seen from Little Cimarron Trail - its long east ridge
Colorado Rank: 507
Parent Lineage: Unnamed 13681
Class: 2
Wilderness: Uncompahgre
Nearby Mountains:
- Unnamed 13100 B 0.89 miles
- Unnamed 13681 2.7 miles
- Unnamed 13060 D 3.65 miles
- Silver Mountain A 3.71 miles
- "Big Blue Peak" 4.51 miles
- Precipice Peak 4.67 miles
- El Punto 5.11 miles
- "Fortress Peak" 5.48 miles
Getting There
The Little Cimarron Trail # 229 begins at the Alpine-Little Cimarron Trailhead on Forest Service Road 864.From Montrose travel approximately 21 miles on US highway 50 east (towards Gunnison) to the intersection with County Road 864 = Little Cimarron Road. This road is well marked, nicely graded and easily passable by low clearance vehicles. Turn south on CR 864 and continue approximately 16 miles to the Trailhead. There is parking for about 2-3 cars and the trailhead is marked as East Cimarron Trail. Elevation at the trailhead is about 9,720 feet.
Route
Sheep Mountain C as seen from UN 13100 B
Sheep Mountain C
Length: 11.2 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 3,700 feet
There is an old cabin below UN 13100. I stopped there to explore a little bit (could be an ok place to bivouac in the future). Once above timberline and had Sheep mountain in a view, the route finding was easy and obvious. It is nice that this route does avoid scree - you walk on a trail, through a forest, and on grassy slopes.
The summit of Sheep Mountain C is huge and down slopping towards north very gently. It appears like a large summit meadow. It is guarded by steep cliffs to its east and west. You will see the steep cliffs on its east side as you will be hiking the Little Cimarron Trail below.
Descent: I chose to explore a different way down and hike down the gentle summit slopes towards north. It is more than a mile long summit! I continued until the end where cliffs appeared to be everywhere and I was looking for some way to scramble down. It appeared hard, but I remembered seeing a cairn about 100 meters before the "end", so I returned and found a relatively easy passage on steep grass and did some zig zagging between the cliffs. There were section of class 3, I chose to down climb a 4th class chimney, but if one would look around, you could find an easier way down. This brought me down on an open grassy drainage, which brought me back to Little Cimarron trail. I believe that this descent shortened my trip some and definitively added a sense of an adventure.
Summit of Sheep Mountain is decorated with a nice and relatively big cairn. I did not find any summit register and regretted for not bringing one with me.
 Sheep Mountain C |  Coxcomb, Redcliff and Fortress |
 Uncompahgre Peak |  Wetterhorn and Matterhorn |
 Descend to Little Cimarron Trail |  Long summit plateau |
Red Tape
Pink wildflowers
Uncompahgre Wilderness was designated in 1980. The name comes from a Ute Indian word with one of the translations being "dirty water". There are two fourteeners and at least twenty five 13,000 foot peaks.
Wilderness rules apply here: ALL VISITORS PROHIBITIONS:
1. Entering or being in the restricted area with more than 15 people per group, with a maximum combination of people and
stock not to exceed 25 per group.
2. Camping within one hundred (100) feet of any lake, stream, or National Forest System Trail.
3. Building, maintaining or using a fire, campfire, or wood-burning stove fire:
a) within one hundred (100) feet of any lake, stream or National Forest System Trail.
b) above treeline.
4. Storing equipment, personal property, or supplies for longer than seven (7) days.
5.Hitching, tethering, hobbling or otherwise confining a horse or other saddle or pack animal: 1) in violation of posted instructions, or 2) within 100 feet of all lakes, streams, and National Forest System Trails.
6. Possessing a dog which is not under control, or which is disturbing or damaging wildlife, people, or property.
Note: the term "under control" is defined as the dog being leashed, and/or under direct verbal control by the
dogs owner or handler at all times.
7. Shortcutting a switchback in a trail.
When to Climb
Best is June through October, early May will still have too much snow.If traveling in winter, always check avalanche conditions and be prepared to spend the night out.
Camping
There is a campground near the trailhead (about 2 miles before you come to the trailhead). There is also enough place at the parking lot that one may spend a night in the car there. Back packing camping is available along Little Cimarron Trail. Just follow the Wilderness rules.