Sheep / Martinez

Today's guest columnist is hiking buddy John Shehee (www.theearthbeneathyourfeet.com)

Wow. That was a stout little hike. Even with backpacking 2.5 miles in on Saturday evening, we still managed a 6a - 7:30p day on Sunday. Granted, there was a lot of cross country route finding, there were a lot of ups and downs (with one final down to go up to the parking lot), and we chose a gully to ascend that doesn’t appear too many people have done. Other than that we were roadrunners. 🤣

Seriously, we were in no rush and the desert hiking was enjoyable (although the cholla beat Isaac 1-0 and got me 2-0.) We chose to hit Sheep first on Sunday morning and then went cross country to the gully for Martinez. It reminded me of several SPS gullies with boulders that were mostly solid. It ended up being a more direct route than the traditional gully and was worth the effort. Isaac and I managed the minor class 2/3 move for the Martinez summit and enjoyed the views of the Salton Sea, Coachella, Palm Springs, Toro Peak, San Gorgonio, San Jacinto and plenty of of other peaks.

“No free steps” was a common refrain during this hike (which was another reason for us taking our time.) Trail hiking was intermittent but was welcome when it was available (mostly at the beginning/end of the hike.) All told, my GPS had 19.8 total miles and ~5660 total elevation gain.