Got out to hunt aoudad this AM & decided to hike up Cerro de Guadalupe to see if I could spot one that I could stalk up on. I started at 6200 feet and worked my way up to sheep country. I found out the sandy clay extends all the way up to the basalt and when you mix in the rocks you have a very slippery slope. I found plenty of scat and a few bedding areas as I hugged the edge of the basalt. Everything was covered in pea size lava rock so footing was treacherous. Had to backtrack down to get past a very steep section then climb up a rocky chute. I reached another extremely steep section and knew that even if I shot one up here I'd never get it down by my self. Even though I could smell them somewhere on the other side of the steep stuff I felt it best to let them go. By the way going down this stuff is harder than going up. It would have been extremely dangerous with a pack full of meat and horns. Still it was a great time and I got a good work out.
Here's my gps track laid out on a 3D image of the Cerro.
Coming up the tight cheeks section.
Steep slippery sand and rock
Tough chute to climb up and back down.
I found several beds at the base of this wall.
Time to give it up rather than trying to get around this cliff.
I was glad to get back down in one piece after a 2 mile trip with 500 feet of elevation gain.
