An elegant descent from N. Sheep Mt. still eludes me. (Coulson Gulch, Boulder area, CO)

Pasque Flowers

Trip date: May 03, 2020

Caltopo map here: caltopo.com/m/EPCU

• Look in "My Outings" folder for "2020 05May 03--Coulson Gulch"

Only a stubborn moron would keep approaching S. Sheep Mt from the north and mandate summiting N. Sheep Mt with a descent on the southern slopes. This trip was the light blue path.

I find myself in a completely artificial, stupid and self-imposed predicament.  One of the primary areas I've yet to explore near St. Vrain Canyon in the Boulder foothills is South Sheep Mt.  I could just get there by a direct route from the Bright Trailhead of the Dry Saint Vrain TH, but that would be too easy.  For some reason, I really want to do both N. Sheep Mt and S. Sheep Mt in a row and in that order.  

One of those views that I always take a picture of but have never managed a great picture.

Looking back on UN 8547' on the way to N. Sheep Mt. This section is one of the few off-trail routes that I truly have memorized and do the same way each time. There's a pretty clear, "natural route".

My track this time was the light blue. Previous trips are shown in red and purple. There is really only two options left for a good descent of N. Sheep Mt from the north slopes. See black dashed lines.

I got close to thee top of this pinnacle but realized that lack of gym climbing during COVID-19 had made me far less confident/comfortable at scrambling, so I backed off.

Looking down the east face of N. Sheep Mt from the un-named pinnacle. This is one of the prettier parts of this area. Like a less well known Lumpy Ridge

Prehistoric "yard art"

This is the near where I took the opening photo in the trip report of my first trip to Coulson Gulch.