Sheepshead Area (Southwest) 

Well, you have to follow the sun. Obviously the east facing cliffs are going to get sun first and shade last. So the rckfellow groups east side is an option in the morning....ex: "forest lawn" etc....The Out of towners dome should be good in the AM..And the wasteland dome should be an okay AM hit. .Whats my line dome should be okay earlyish....PM climbing would consist of the west side of the Rockfellow group ex :"End game", "days of future passed"...Climbs Like "absinthe of mallet" at the sheepshead would have to wait till at least noon I would think. I would recommend following the sun around the Rockfellow group. If it is a windy day it doesn't matter how much sun ya got when your 600' + up...its still gonna be pretty cold..If I were there I'd be out no matter what...Cochise is the best..have fun

"Residents and guests may fly into the Tucson or Sierra Vista airports by private jet, then drive in. Or enjoy a personal limousine or helicopter escort to the property."

Damn where I'd put that helicopter of mine?

"Welcome to Bachmann Springs, a tabernacle of well-being"

-where body, mind, soul and spirit can live in peace and harmony
-a place of great spiritual tranquility
-where prejudice does not exist
-where people can value humankind and find a sanctum for the lights of their lives "

If you gotsta a helicopter, then we won't be prejudiced against you hahaha...who writes this crap?

www.bachmannsprings.com/index.html?1

Several years ago I met the guy who owns / owned a ranch nearby and learned quite a bit of history about the area, and was digging thru old photos and found this one.
www.flickr.com/photos/miamitom/1137901230/
And one of the obvious things I learned was why they called it Sheeps' Head ... ;) Once you 'get it' it's unmistakable ... had no idea it was a great climb ... cool to see you folks enjoy it. There is a hill nearby called Haberstock Hill that has a US Geo marker on the top, no real challenge for climbers but provides a nice view of the area in all directions.

Are you meeting in the parking area or at the dome? Cuz it would be easier for you to meet in the parking area and hike out together. The directions to the parking area on this site are spot on. Do not take a low clearance vehicle like a Civic on the roads if there has been any rains, we had a Malibu and bottomed out frequently on the way to the Sheepshead/Isle of You. So park at the north area of the parking "lot" for Sheepshead where the barbed wire fence has a gate. Go through the gate, closing it behind you, and trend north on the trail until you get to another barbed wire fence which will parallel the trail towards the Sheepshead. This is what it will look like at that point: mountainproject.com/v/arizona/cochise_stronghold/105967733
Follow the trail for 15 minutes or so up some hills and eventually down and back up out of a wash. You will see the dome up and to the left. The trail then goes through another fence gate, and winds its way up towards the dome. There are several spur trails and it probably doesn't matter which you take, but follow the cairns and it will get pretty steep/scrambly. At that point you are in full view of the dome and won't get lost. Once you get to the base, orient yourself to what climb you came up upon first, which will probably be Peacemaker. Kerry's backcountry guide and the Falcon guide to AZ are good, and print out the info on the climbs from this site also. We used a conglomerate of all 3 to find the routes. If you plan on doing Ewphoria, it was a little tricky for us to find based on the written description here, but keep going up the northwest side of the dome and you will find it. What are you planning to do?

What is the weather like at Sheepshead in mid-May? Too hot to climb?

For those of you who have Google Earth, I have posted two files that may be helpful for you.

The first has driving directions to the Sheepshead, The second has the 1.3 mile approach and most of the major multipitch lines.

Both of these can be viewed in 3D from any aspect and printed.

You can download the files from www.geir.com/googleearth/stronghold/west/

Google Earth can be downloaded for free at www.googleearth.com

Hey Everyone,

I was out climbing on Sheepshead 1/2-1/5/2010 and I think I lost my orange olympus tough digital camera in the parking lot. it has a cracked screen and thousands of photos on it. Really I just want my memory card - if you found it and want the camera that's fine you can keep it as a reward. Either way, please just email me if you think you found it and i'll send you my address.

BTW, in early January the weather was perfect for climbing and damn cold for sleeping.

Thanks!

some good photos of a recent trip: picasaweb.google.com/tyler.williams/CochiseStrongholdSheepsh>>>

We recently completed some routes on the Sheephead this March. Really awsome routes. Totally underestimated the approach and descent time and effort needed. The climing seemed like the easy part.

Anyway, I would like to thank Geir Handal for all the topos and route descriptions for the Sheephead. Great work. I will be looking forward to returning to complete more routes.

AB

you're very welcome! :)

Does anyone know anything about a route to the right of Too tough to die? It starts in a nice finger/hand crack and goes through some buttonhead bolts and tough moves to a small seam and slab with little pro. There is an old piton to the right but I went straight up.

We did two pitches along this route and linked up with too tough to die in order to get off before dark. The route would probably keep going up, away from bolts. The first pitch felt like 5.11 but protection wasn't so good and the old bolts weren't very assuring.