[Bloated Chipmunk]

A few wks. ago I took my group to Sheephead Mtn., a short hike in the Lagunas that's a good choice for the summer mos. as there's a decent amount of treecover for much of the hike. I got 4 takers for this half day hike in the hills, & before the day was done 3 of us got stung by bees & none of us escaped from being grunted at by some miffed cattle who likely were unaccustomed to seeing very many hikers in that area. We parked @ the usual spot along Kitchen Creek Rd. & headed up the old rd.

@ the TH

On the old rd.

Before long we came across some cows who were not too pleased w/our presence. They eyed us suspiciously, grunted their disappointment, & crashed off through the bushes.

Mad cows

The old rd. deteriorated into a more narrow path, then opened up again & appeared to have suffered the consequences of a rough winter (well, by SoCal standards anyway), indicated by a lot of debris & mud. It looked like the cows had trampled through there as well so it was just a mess of mud, sticks, & hoofprints. @ some point I felt a sudden, sharp piercing pain in my upper left thigh/groin area, & soon realized that a bee had stung me through my shorts. A person in front got stung as well as someone behind me. We concluded we must've walked over a ground nest or something. Since the source of pain was located in an area such that I'd have to remove my shorts to inspect the damage, I had to wait til later @ the restaurant bathroom to check it out.

Messed up rd.

Retreating cows

As usual, picking up the side trail to the peak proved to be tricky, but eventually I spotted it heading up through the chaparral & we made our way over to it.

Steep trail

Mtn. mahogany

Heading up through the manzanita

After a steep initial climb up, the trail eases up a bit before reaching the summit rocks. We all climbed the south rock & a couple of us went up the north (higher) rock.

Summit pano

Summit pano

Cows in Channing Meadow

Cows in Channing Meadow

On the south summit rock

View north

View south

Summit register

We had a nice leisurely stay @ the summit, then made our way back down. No more cow or bee encounters on the return trip.

Short hike

Route

Post-hike margs

Post-hike drinks

[Ski]

ouch! hate it when I get stung! otherwise looks like fun.