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Apr 13, 2020 — Despite the relatively low mileage, Sheep Hole Mountains High Point took significantly longer than I thought it would. It's got the same rocky personality you'd expect from the Joshua Tree area's granite boulders. I started from a pull-out off Amboy Road and dropped into the sandy drainage on the west side of the Sheep Hole Mountains. I followed the sandy wash into a prominent drainage on the right, and then continued through this drainage, ultimately to its head. Along the way, there was a fair amount of boulder-hopping and some trickier obstacles. About halfway up the drainage, a wall of boulders blocked easy access. Going straight up this blockade would result in some fun Class 3 movement, but keeping the route Class 2 requires leaving the drainage and keeping to the right side slopes to get to higher ground, avoiding the bouldery blockade.
Eventually the drainage rock-hopping simmered out and I reached the head of the wash. Two sets of cairns marked possible routes up. The left leads up a steep slope and then a Class 3 face (my initial ascent route, which I removed from my attached map; it was loose and steep), and the right, which continues to a low saddle and includes a fairly well-eroded social trail. The social trail continues just south of the ridge crest, avoiding much of the difficult rock-hopping and maze-like nature created by the massive boulders. The route is a little confusing to describe since all the boulders kind of look the same, but I had to drop down into a small basin-like formation before making the final ascent on Class 3 boulder-hopping fun, and the summit block required a low Class 3 move. Great views of the surrounding desert.
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