The snow is gone, the trails are completely dry and the downed tree blocking access to the Mount Peeley TH has been cleared. So the pool is open.

I made another unsuccessful attempt to reach Sheep Mountain. This time my GPS said I was 0.35 miles (straight line) from the summit. What does me in on this hike is not the terrain but rather the low vegetation - Manzanita, Cactus, other stuff.

The approach I have tried is to go past the Mt Peeley summit turnoff on the Divide trail for just over 1/2 mile and turn left to gain the ridgeline which is only 200 yards (straight line) from the trail there. The first half mile of off trail hiking to the ridgeline is relatively easy since the forest floor is clear for hiking. After that the hiking becomes tough. The ridgeline involves class 3 scrambling and rock climbing and that is not the tough part. It is the low vegetation that eventually does me in. I made it to peak 6910 and beyond just before Sheep Mountain.

You need to be a little crazy to try this one but I know there are some crazies out there.