Garnet Mountain (SDC #57, 5700′) • map • directions

Pine (SDC #60, 5660′) • map • directions

Garnet Peak (SDC #59, 5900′) • map • directions

Monument (SDC #62, 6271′) • map • directions

Sheephead (SDC #72, 5896′) • map • directions

Wooded Hill (SDC #69, 6223′) • map • directions

 

Garnet Mountain

After yesterday’s debacle on Manza, we had six peaks we wanted to get to before the day was over instead of the four we had originally planned for. It wasn’t enough to get me out of bed before sunrise, but we did get up soon after, not wasting any time getting over to Garnet Mountain. We drove north on the Sunrise Highway from our campsite at Burnt Ranchita and followed the turnoff for Kwaaymii Point. The Pacific Crest Trail crossed right through the parking lot and you could see down to the desert floor without having to go anywhere. 

 

 

Anna and I started up the gated dirt road (not the PCT) and walked a third of a mile before turning left towards the high point of Garnet Mountain, arriving to the top at 8:51am. It took less than 15 minutes to get there, and surprisingly there was a summit register. The view towards Anza Borrego was great, but being further back on a relatively flat plateau prevented us from seeing much more than the horizon, the parking lot claiming better views. I imagined we’d have much better views throughout the day. We returned to the truck just as quickly as we left, and spent some time looking through the collection of memorials at the south end of the lot. 

 

The view from Garnet Mountain

 

Pine

We turned south onto Sunrise Highway after leaving Garnet Mountain and hung a right onto a dirt road almost exactly a mile down, headed towards Pine Mountain. I wasn’t quite sure where it was exactly so I used my GPS to point the way. I kept on the rough dirt road (2WD high clearance ok), keeping right at an intersection, and wrapped around to the northeast side of Pine Mountain, not quite believing that my GPS was pointing me to the tiny hill less than a quarter of a mile away. We parked and spent a total of 5 minutes walking up to the summit with only our cameras in hand, arriving at the top at 9:33am. 

 

 

We looked for any kind of a summit log but all we came up with was a pile of rocks near the center of the rounded hill, with trees blocking much of whatever view there was. Driving to Pine Mountain was the hardest part of the visit and though we had originally expected to walk the extra mile and a half, I was glad we didn’t. 

 

Garnet Peak

Just another mile and a half south on the Sunrise Highway was the trailhead for Garnet Peak, not to be confused with the Garnet Mountain we’d visited just an hour previous. Garnet Peak promised more of a hike and better views than what we’d had so far this morning, and Anna and I were anxious to stretch our legs. 

 

 

A crowded trailhead further south on the highway gives the option of taking the PCT to Garnet Peak but in the interest of time we started at the more obscure trailhead closer to the peak. We could see the summit from near the beginning of the hike and the trail was very easy to follow. We crossed the PCT and took the path that led up the west slope of Garnet, arriving at the summit at 10:27am. A group of three guys and a dog were on their way down, leaving the entire mountain for Anna and myself to enjoy. 

 

 

 

Monument

Monument Peak was the last peak we had planned to hike that was part of the desert divide, the chain of mountains that made up the west edge of the Colorado Desert. As described in Jerry Schad’s “Afoot and Afield in San Diego County, we parked in a dirt turnout near mile-marker 25 on the east side of the Sunrise Highway and started up the Big Laguna Trail.

 

Ten minutes of hiking brought us to a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail, where we turned left (north), following the PCT for another 5 or 10 minutes until it curved around to the right (east). When the trail took a sharp left we continued straight on a worn path through the trees. The path was easy to follow and we continued up and south, eventually reaching a chain link fence, a helipad, and a paved road running the final quarter mile to the summit. Though the summit was decorated with towers and small buildings, I thought that Monument was the best summit of the day, and the views into the desert were again awesome. We left the summit at 11:55 am, taking just over half an hour for the return hike.

 

 

Sheephead

Once settled into the truck after returning from Monument Peak, Anna and I continued towards the southern end of the Sunrise Highway. This part of the highway took us a few miles west and away from the edge of the desert, near where we’d hiked Manza the day before. We were headed for Sheephead Mountain, what would be our longest hike of the day, though still not very long as far as hikes go. We turned left onto Kitchen Creek Road, followed it down for 1.5 miles, and parked where the road took a sharp left. Here was an intersection with a gated dirt road, which would serve as our trailhead.

 

 

We climbed over the gate and followed an old overgrown road, losing a few hundred feet of elevation in the process. There seemed to be more than one way to go but I knew as long as we kept heading west we’d hit Sheephead mountain road and we’d be able to find our way, which we did in a matter of 15 minutes after leaving the truck. Turning south on Sheephead Mountain Rd, we came to a second locked gate that blocked progress. Though the route descriptions that I’ve read mention the locked gates and insist that this route is all on public property, it seemed suspect. We squeezed underneath the barbed wire next to the gate when a group of 6 or 7 startled cows ran out from behind the nearby bushes, which cast further doubt as to whether we should be there or not.

We began to look for the clipped use trail that was the key to getting up Sheephead. As in the route description, I kept my eyes open for a wash that ran down this side of the mountain and intersected the road. We did find the wash, and it did intersect the road at a noticeable low point, but there was no evidence of a trail. We walked back and forth, exploring both sides, and came up with nothing. Since Sheephead was an HPS peak I had expected the route to be more obvious. Eventually we just started heading up, staying either in or close to the wash, and were ultimately funneled into the clipped trail that we’d expected.  

 

The manzanita covering this side of Sheephead Mountain was so tall and dense that the trail was more of a tunnel, making navigation nonexistent. The only challenge was the few boulders along the way that we had to climb over and the steepness of the trail. Most of the elevation gain was in this passageway, which was fairly direct at 600 feet in a third of a mile. I guess if I was the one who clipped the trail I’d make it direct too; it must have been a great deal of work. We followed the path all the way to the summit boulders, the shape of which supposedly gave Sheephead Mountain its name. 

 

I was surprised to find that climbing the summit block on Sheephead’s summit was more committing than I had expected. I found two possible ways up, both requiring more than one awkward move, and both offering potential to land in not such a great spot if I blew one of those moves. In the end I squeezed up the south side of the boulders, jamming my hands into a crack and stepping on a bush to boost myself up. Though Anna was disinterested in climbing the summit block herself, she enjoyed cheering me on and taking pictures. 

 

Once finished messing around on the summit boulders, we paid more attention to the weather and the views. We had almost forgotten that rain had been forecast in San Diego throughout the weekend and it looked like the mountains we’d spent the last two days in had been keeping the storm at bay. Between climbing the boulders, snapping a few pictures, and catching up on our snacks, Anna and I spent almost 30 minutes on top.  We started back down at 1:53pm.

On the hike down from Sheephead mountain we again crossed paths with the cows that we had seen on our way in. The cows acted strangely, not appreciative of our company one bit. At first the group of cows seemed to pace us, stopping in formation, always facing directly towards us and keeping eye contact. Then two of the larger cows became more aggressive, getting in between us and the rest of them and for a second I thought they were going to charge (cows do charge by the way!). I didn’t know whether to laugh or to run, but Anna failed to share my humor in the situation. After a few minutes however, the cows lost interest and let us on our way.

 

Wooded Hill

It wasn’t until we were near the summit of Sheephead Mountain that I realized that we would get to the top of all six mountains we were shooting for today. Though I knew our last hike of the day, Wooded Hill, was easy, I hadn’t quite realized how easy. After parking at the trailhead just .3 miles off of Sunrise Highway, we were at the summit of Wooded Hill within 15 minutes. Though not much of a hike, Wooded Hill gets points for its flora. The mix of interesting plants and trees was diverse, making for a pleasant final hike of the day.

 

 

It was 4:30pm by the time Anna and I walked up to the truck for the final time, where like last weekend, we relaxed and celebrated with a single beer before heading home. This weekend had been more of a logistical challenge rather than a hiking effort, something I enjoyed equally. Ten minutes after getting onto highway 8, we descended towards San Diego and into the rain that we had missed all weekend.