Martinez Mountain, Sheep Mountain

2 February 1991

By: Charlie Knapke

Leaders: Charlie Knapke, Frank Goodykoontz

These two peaks make a very long trip when done as a day hike. I required each applicant to convince me that they were ready for a long tough hike. I screened the group down to 17 participants that I thought could handle it OK without getting back too late in the day.

A very strong group of hikers met at the starting point at dawn. After a short introduction we headed off toward Martinez. This route starts mostly down hill. Almost three hours passed before we had climbed back up to the level of the cars.

On the way to Martinez we met several young men from San Diego State who were heading out to find a plane wreck north of Martinez. We never saw them on the way back. By 11:00 a.m. we reached the peak of Martinez. We climbed the short class three summit in two groups since there is not a lot of room on top. We then descended a short distance to a nice spot in the rocks where we had lunch.

We then headed off cross-country for Sheep. The peak is in sharp contrast to Martinez. When climbing Martinez we could see our goal almost all of the way. Sheep comes into view at the very last second. We did not stay on Sheep long since I wanted to try to get the group back to the cars before dark.

Halfway back it became obvious that the group still had lots of energy. At least they were doing more talking than hiking. After a short rest at Horsethief Creek I decided to see how much they had left. I stepped up the pace again and again. The bulk of the group hung right in there! In fact we reached the parking area (not the mine) almost an hour before dark.

I would like to thank everyone for participating. Special thanks goes to Frank for his assistance.