Just realized I had forgotten to click "active" on this when I wrote it last June. Oopsie. Our camera had a hair stuck in the lens that I didn't know about until after so lots of the pictures have an ugly dark line. Very disappointing because there would be some nice ones otherwise.

Tiring of Colorado's stubborn snowpack, and wanting to visit some friends in Santa Fe, we (my parents and I) decided to head down to New Mexico. The Goals for the weekend included North Truchas Peak, Truchas Peak, and Wheeler Peak. This would be the 3 ranked 13ers in NM.

Friday: West Fork Santa Barbara Backpack

Stats:

Distance: 9.5 miles

Vertical Gain: 2,670

Total Time (h:mm): 4:52

Summits: None

After spending Thursday in Santa Fe with some good friends and enjoying a great lunch at the Tesuque Village Market and dinner at the Pink Adobe, we packed up Friday morning and drove up the scenic high road to Taos, through many beautiful towns such as Chimayo and Peñasco, and arrived at the Santa Barbara Campground (8,800 feet) in the late morning. Luckily one of the spots was open in the free lot (holds about 12 cars), but even if that is taken there is tons of space in the payed lot which was only like $9 or so.

tesuque village market bathroom

We began walking at 11:30. A dusty half mile of walking through the campground leads to the start of the Middle Fork Rio Santa Barbara trail. After squeezing through the horribly designed barbwire-wrapped corral at the start of the trail, we stayed right at the immediate junction. Left is the Jicarita Peak Trail. After 3/4 mile there is another junction, or more of a sign-post, as the Centennial Trail hasn't seen use in many years and is totally reclaimed. This section has some pretty aspens, but is otherwise hot, crowded, and somewhat uninspiring.

Another 0.25 miles leads to the Pecos Wilderness boundary, where the crowds thin out and the scenery perks up. Large cliffs rise up on each side of the narrowing canyon, and wildflowers become abundant. I have never seen so many of the red and yellow shooting-star columbines. Tons of violets, too. There is a nice bridge over the river where we stopped for a brief water break, and the scenery remains great as the trail follows the east side of the creek. We really enjoyed that the trail was almost entirely in the shade. Even up high it was like 70°, and I know Santa Fe was forecasted to be almost 95. Yuck.

At mile 2.6 there is a junction (9,400 feet); left to stay on the middle fork, right to start up the west fork trail. We turned right and followed the trail through vast meadows of wild iris and other flowers to a second bridge. From here, the trail begins climbing more steeply through stunning forested areas with nice views of rocky bluffs, the river, and occasional glimpses of Trampas Peak and Jicarita Peak. At mile 4 pass through a cattle fence. Shortly after the gate, the valley levels out and becomes truly magical. The creek winds through the base of the valley creating winding oxbows, as steeper side creeks cascade in through fields of flowers and stands of healthy trees. just lovely. This section is known as The Meadows, and is the most popular destination in the Rio Santa Barbara Valley (for good reason). There are numerous great campsites in the 1.5 miles of meadows, and at 9,900 feet, around mile 5.5, the trail crosses the creek and becomes very different in nature.

Mom and I at the start of The Meadows.

Wild Iris

The creek crossing is surely very easy for much of the year, but with spring runoff still near its highpoint, the available log jams were underwater, and the creek seemed to mandate a very pleasant shin deep ford. I later found that if you walk about 3 minutes upstream there is a series of four or five good logs at the base of an avalanche chute, but I *encountered* some stinging nettle on the walk to the logs, so be cautious.

On the far side of the creek there are nice sitting rocks in the shade and many Ladyslipper Orchids. We enjoyed a very relaxing break here.

The introduction was over, and the trail began climbing more steeply up the west wall of the valley. At 10,300 feet, the trail crosses a stunning cascade, before starting up a series of switchbacks. The forest through here is incredible. Sadly, most of the larger trees died in an old beetle-kill event, but the thick huckleberry bushes, deep shade, and mossy boulders make it a stunning place to hike. The huckleberries were probably a week or so away at the lower elevations, and a few weeks up higher. Salmonberries and strawberries were blooming but still far from bearing fruit. We saw a stunning Dusky Grouse in this section. It was only the 3rd time I have seen one.

Finally, the trail flattens out at 11,000 feet, 8.8 miles from the TH. There is some camping here, but it isn't very level. The trail crosses the creek and climbs gradually up through the basin. There were several nice platforms here, but they were all still snowed in. We finally found a great campsite near No Fish Lake (11,400), about a tenth of a mile north of the trail, 9.6 miles in.

After setting up our tent and filtering water, we chatted with a backpacker from Tennessee, made dinner, and went to bed early. Despite the somewhat high mileage, this is a really friendly backpack. Going at a super-relaxed family pace with many stops and flower-pictures it took us just under 5 hours.

View of North Truchas Peak from above camp.

Saturday: Truchas Group

Stats:

Distance: 9.7 miles

Vertical Gain: 4,400

Total Time (h:mm): 9:23

Summits: 2 Ranked 13ers, 2 unranked 13ers, 1 ranked 12er, 1 unranked 12er

We started walking from camp at 6:26, well after the sun had begun to warm the chilly morning air. The trail up to the pass was mostly dry, but probably 30% of it was filled in with solid, summer-snow. It easily supported our weight and caused little trouble, even without traction and wearing just approach shoes. From the ridge at 11,980, the views open up and there are tons of flowers. After a fantastic but admittedly long winter, it was really nice to have warm, dry weather above treeline.

Looking at North Truchas Peak from the pass.

The south ridge of North Truchas Peak is steep class 1 tundra gaining just over 1,000 feet. Astonishingly, the tiny pines at tree-line hold on until a mind-blowing 12,600 feet. We saw a group of six or eight bighorn sheep, including two babies, and about a million wildflowers. The summit of North Truchas is a grand one, with sweeping views of the surrounding peaks and the Rio Grand Valley all the way up to the Taos Mountains. Spectacular! Sheepshead peak was really dramatic from this view.

The main Truchas group from just below the summit.

After a snack beside the impressive summit cairn, we began down the ridge over to the other summits of Truchas. A stiff wind kicked up at this point, and jacket soon went on.

The descent from the summit to the 12,380 foot saddle is straightforward but enjoyable. Class 2 boulders on the narrow ridge off the summit are super fun, and eventually end in a stretch of class 1 tundra. The rocky terrain returns for a short but fun class 2 quasi-knife. At 12,600, a 200 foot high rockbound seems to promise trouble, but staying on the ridge until and obvious pink notch gives access to a fun class 2+ down climb on solid rock that deposits you in the saddle.

Descending easy Ridgeline towards Middle Truchas

Mom approaching the Class 2+ down climb on North Truchas

The lower portion of the ridge from the saddle up to "Medio Truchas" is the roughest of the day, and the most fun. Although boring class 1+ traversing beneath the ridge crest is feasible on either side, the crest always goes, and is loads of fun. The initial rock band is class 2+, then after a stretch of class 2, many small but solid towers of stunning quartz were super entertaining, but never exceeded delightful class 2+ right on the ridge crest. As the rugged portion of the ridge is coming to a close, a notch is visible ahead. There is a clear trail on the right side of the ridge that appears to skip the excess vertical gain and subsequent loss. Not caring to leave the ridge, we ignored the trail, and kept at the fun scattering. And good thing, because the trail (and any traversing line) on either side of the ridge cliff out. At the notch, a brilliant class 2+ down climb on perfect rock reaches the notch. There are abundant juggy holds and huge platforms for your feet, and exposure didn't feel bad, although a fall to the right would probably drop you 100 feet into a steep couloir where you would subsequently roll another 600 feet.

Ridge scrambling

Getting out of the notch calls for another incredibly fun class 2+ tower climb, which deposits you in a tiny saddle at 12,600, where the "difficulties" cease. Class 1+ embedded rocks with some looser sections of class 2 lead to a point where the ridge forks. Here, huge blocks of sparkling white quartz adorn the ridge, some studded with black mica and citrines. The summit of "Medio Truchas" is about 45 seconds to the west.

Coolest part of the ridge

Mom approaching the summit of Medio Truchas with North Truchas standing proud.

Mom and I on "Medio Truchas" with Truchas Peak beyond.

We dropped packs and ran out to the impressive summit of Middle Truchas. LiDAR claims that Medio is one foot higher, but from many vantage points Middle looked notably higher than Medio, and Gaia gps read ten feet higher on Middle. I have a great deal of trust in LiDAR, but maybe there was an error here. If this were true, then Middle Truchas' prominence would increase from 178 feet to around 260, with the opposite being true for Medio.

The ridge out to Middle is mostly cruiser class 1 tundra, but the summit pyramid is either super steep class 1+ grass on the south face, or fun class 2 on the ridge crest. We directly ascended a couple 4th class towers right out of the saddle, but the would have been trivial to bypass.

Dad on Middle Truchas with North Truchas and Sheepshead peak.

Cool quartz near Medio Truchas

The summit of Middle was our favorite of the day, with sweeping views all around, and a unique perspective on the Rio Quemado and the rest of the Truchas summits. After enjoying our summit treats and almost stepping on a marmot, we continued back across Medio and quickly up the main summit of Truchas. We got a nice close view a a lone female bighorn sheep, who was bedded down on the ridge and too lazy to move when we passed by.

At 13,106 Truchas is the second highest ranked summit in NM, and the fifth most prominent with 4,001 feet. After a snack and summit pictures we continued down the south ridge, bagging unranked 12,580 foot "Little South Truchas". It didn't seem like much to me, but it completed the 5 named summits of Truchas, and we saw another group of bighorns so that was fun.

After descending a grassy gully down to the Skyline Trail, we followed it as it rolled through charming meadows past glimmering tarns, cheerful streams, deep forests, the manmade Truchas Lake, and finally back up to the pass where we started the day. Mom decided to return to camp, while Dad and I side-tripped up Chimayosos Peak, which although not originally on the itinerary, it is one of the highest peaks in NM and the weather was good. The ascent of Chimayosos was mostly on unpleasant class 1+ ball-bearings, but the 800 feet went pretty quick, and soon we were on our 6th and final summit of the day. From the summit we could see a huge herd of maybe two-dozen bighorns strung out across the southern slopes of Chimayosos, totaling for at least 40 over the course of the day. Very prolific.

We quickly returned to camp and made ramen and hung out at the lake for sunset, before heading to bed.

Little South Truchas with East and West Pecos Baldy behind.

Truchas BM

Whole Truchas group from Chimayosos Peak. Climbed all 5 visible summits that morning.

Camp life

Sunday: West Fork Santa Barbara Exit

Stats:

Distance: 9.5 miles

Vertical Gain: 53

Total Time (h:mm): 4:10

Summits: None

The hike out went super quick, with the 9.6 miles disappearing almost more quickly than I could believe. It took us about 4 hours to retrace our steps from the first day, and much of that time was spent lounging by creeks or sitting on logs enjoying the flowers. Before we knew it we were back amongst the crowds and heat, then back at the van. I know many people have had problems with vandalism around the Pecos Wilderness, but I can say that the Santa Barbara TH felt as safe as any CO TH.

After returning to the van and rinsing off with our Nemo Helio shower, we rolled down to Peñasco to hit Sugarnymphs Bistro, which our friends from Santa Fe had recommended. They serve complimentary scones (some of the best I have had in the US) with any order, have amazing fresh-squeezed fruit juices (Cosmic Berry Lemonade is by far the best - SO GOOD!), fantastic deserts, and a super cool vibe overall. I got the green-chili cheese burger and it was out of this world. I cannot highly enough recommend this place. The staff were also super friendly and helpful.

After eating our fill, we rolled over U.S. Hill and down the high road to Taos. We picked up some tamales, corn, and poblanos, rolled up the Rio Hondo canyon to a dispersed campsite, and made a delicious Mexican seasoned corn and pepper sauté to go with our tamales. Delicious!

After some quick packing we went to sleep, and set alarms for 5:45.

Monday: Wheeler Peak & Co.

Stats:

Distance: 12.2 miles

Vertical Gain: 4,782

Total Time (h:mm): 6:49

Summits: 1 Ranked 13er, 2 unranked 13ers, 2 ranked 12ers, 2 unranked 12ers

We set off up the road from the Williams Lake TH at 6:36, and after 3/4 mile joined the main trail. We had missed the main turnoff due to a bunch of construction blocking it, but a couple hundred feet off trail though the forest remedied the situation. The wide and easy trail climbed up to a junction at 11,150, with some snowdrifts lingering across the trail, and definitely a bit of mud. Right to Williams Lake, left for the Wheeler Peak Trail. We turned left and after a few minutes of gradually climbing through the forest, the switchbacks began. There were quite a few snowbanks slowing progress, but they were packed down and didn't seem to cause too much post-holing. Soon the trail breaks out of treeline. Mom was feeling tired, so she told us to "go do our own thing" and we would see her at the van sometime before 2. The leash had been dropped, and we were good to go surfing ridges all day. We were sad to split up, but having spent the last 3 days all together, we were also excited to run some ridges.

At the end of a long switchback to the left around 12,000 feet, there was a large flat snowfield, but it was in summer condition (sun cupped and not post-holey). Shortly afterwards on the switchback back to the right, there was a considerably steeper snowfield that climbed about 150 vertical feet at about 25-30°. It was very firm and having spent a lot of time on snow, I didn't mind it in my approach shoes, but many casual hikers would want spikes here. The remainder of the trail was dry, but annoyingly steep and kind of loose in places. From the switchback at 12,100, we had picked up the pace and reached the summit if Mt. Walter in about 20 minutes, 2:02 from the TH.

Wheeler Peak Wilderness views. Fairchild Mountain and Lake Fork Peak in background.

After Having a snack and layering up for the wind, we buzzed over to Wheeler Peak, my 3rd and final ranked NM 13er. It was only 6/7 on the named list though, so we still needed Old Mike. Wheeler was my 181st ranked peak over 13k in the Rockies, and my 27th ranked summit of the year.We signed the super cool metal register atop Wheeler, spotted 6 bighorn sheep and the 12th marmot of the day, and were ready to go. We were the first summitters of the day. The previous day’s last signatures were signed the 29th instead of the 25th, but then I saw they were from Texas so their confusion checked out.

Big register.

From Wheeler we quickly zipped over tiny Simpson Peak to unranked Old Mike Peak, my final named peak over 13k in NM. After a brief lunch on Old Mike Peak we returned to Simpson. We could have gone back over Wheeler, but that would have been boring and the ridge running southwest from Simpson looked delicious, so we decided to try that instead. We knew absolutely nothing about the ridge, didn’t even know if it went, but it looked simple enough.

En Route to Old Mike Peak

From the comically minor Simpson Peak, the ridge begins with 250 feet of steep descending, alternating Class 1 tundra and Class 2 boulders. After reaching a small saddle at around 12,700, the scrambling begins abruptly.

The first tower appears troubling, but it can be ascended directly on joyous Class 2+ blocks. This is the first “crux”. The descent from the backside continues the fun, with solid rock, pleasant movement, and great position. The second tower once again appears tricky, but it can be ascended on class 2+ slabs or skirted on the north side via class 2 ledges. Either way, emerge onto the tower/ridge beyond the tower to find a section of class 1+ grass, eventually becoming class 2 as the terrain becomes rockier. Be sure to stay on the ridge crest, the south side is Taos Pueblo Land. The ridge once again narrows down and a deep notch seems to threaten impasse. A class 2+ traverse just left of the ridge crest brought us over a small tower, and the notch revealed its class 2 nature. This tower is the second “crux”. This low point at 12,500 is the “first saddle”.

Scrambles

Scrambles

Scrambles

From here, more towers can be directly ascended at class 2+. The ridge calms down and becomes cruiser class 1+ embedded rocks for the steep climb up to point 12,740 (“False Fairchild”). You could skirt it on the north but I think it would be more trouble than it’s worth. While descending from point 12,740, we were enjoying watching a group of elk traverse the grassy slopes to the south when we nearly tripped over 7 bighorn sheep bedded down on the ridge.

Sheep

Just as the second saddle (12,250) is about to be reached, a barrier cliff band blocks access. Things don’t look good, but suddenly a gully comes into view, and provides a class 2+ weakness descending to the notch. Once again, the ridge looks hard. A steep white tower looks fierce and broken. Either side of the ridge holds obnoxious class 2+ gulley traverses. The ridge crest is perfect class 3-. Climb it directly. This is the best part of the ridge, and the hardest. After a few short moves, the ridge relaxes to class 2, and drops to the third saddle and the lowest point of the ridge, at about 12,230. For a while, the ridge is boring but quick, but at 12,400, a dark colored tower rises once again. The north side of the ridge is precipitous, and the south side looks to be class 1+ grass, but that would be both illegal and boring. The ridge crest beckons. A hundred and fifty feet of entertaining class 2+ right on the ridge deposit you at a grassy shoulder at 12,550. 280 feet of class 1+ tundra leads to the rewarding summit of 12,833 foot “Fairchild Mountain”.

Ridge.

Flowers.

Summit Fairchild

The ridge to 12,882 Lake Fork Peak is much faster and easier than that to Fairchild. Ten minutes of class 1+ tundra and embedded rocks lead to the 12,350 foot saddle. Class 2 boulders quickly replace tundra. The ridge crest all goes at class 2. If you should be tempted by the class 1 terrain to the left, remember it is in the Pueblo. The ridge turns sharply west at Point 12,620. From here the ridge crest has several bumps going at fun class 2+. Eventually the ridge deposits you on point 12,820, and a few wild-flower filled minutes lead to the summit.

Approaching the summit of Lake Fork Peak with the gentle Wheeler Peak on the horizon. Fair;y long ridge run to get all the way around.

Interestingly there are markers all along the ridge from Simons to Lake Fork, designating the border between the wilderness and the Taos Pueblo.

We didn’t stay long, but enjoyed the views of Vallecito Mountain and Lucero Peak, and signed the surprisingly often-visited summit register.

To descend, we returned to the saddle with Pt 12,820, and slid down the remnant of the cornice to a grassy rib which we descended to 12,300 in the basin. An aggravating half hour of traversing and descending across moraines dropped down to Williams Lake at 11,100.

Boot skiing

After a brief jog out to the TH, we enjoyed a late lunch at The Bavarian restaurant, and began the 5 hour trek home.

Thanks for a fun weekend, New Mexico!