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Report Type
Full
Peak(s)
Sierra Blanca NM - 12003
Lookout Mountain NM - 11580
This was going to be a trip with my wife, but her parents came down for Thanksgiving, and she wanted to stay with them. Then I asked my mom if she wanted to make a trip to the Guadalupes(she just recently got into hiking), but she was just getting over the flu. So I asked my friend Billy if he wanted to make a trip to Sierra Blanca NM. It's the most prominent peak in NM, some of the photos look great and I thought it would be the perfect "quick fix" mountain trip. We were really looking forward to looking down on White Sands Missile Range. So we made the long trip to Ruidoso. The weather looked like it would be great. A cold front was supposed to move in the evening we were leaving, so we thought we would be ahead of it. It moved in a little early. We had great views the day before we hiked.
We arrived at Ski Apache near Ruidoso about 4:00PM and we had recieved some bad info. We thought we only had to get permission from Ski Apache. We spoke to some ski patrol guys who were really helpful, but they said technically we needed a permit from the Mescalero Tribe, but most people don't get permits. So we decided to risk it. The TH is very near the Ski Apache entrance. It starts out on Lincoln NF Trail #15. We hiked up about 3/4 of a mile and set up camp. We had dinner and a couple Alien Amber Ales and then hit the sack.
We woke up to a beautiful morning and thought it was going to be a good day.
The first part of the hike is pretty flat and easy going. The only snow we saw was on the northern slopes.
As we approached 10,500ft it started getting very cloudy, windy and there was more snow.
We passed Ice Springs which was still flowing water. Then a little higher up the trail crosses into the Ski Apache's property. The wind really started picking up, and visibility was getting worse. Billy was feeling the altitude. (He did really well, especially since we drove up from sea level the day before).
The summit of Lookout Mtn has a little windbreak with a sign pointing to where the first atomic bomb was detonated. There was ice forming on the rocks. The cold front was early. It was hard to stand up in the wind, we estimated the wind speed at over 50MPH.
Here's a photo I found of Sierra Blanca on a clear day from Lookout Mountain. Sierra Blanca is only about 70miles from Roswell. Something kinda funny in this photo.
In clear weather the ridge to Sierra Blanca would be a snap to follow, but today we had to keep checking the GPS to see if we were on track.
It was getting colder and ice was starting to form on everything.
About 400ft below the summit the ridge gets rocky and steep, we made our way to the right of the ridge. The "trail" is a little hard to follow at this point. We lost it on the way up. Billy was really feeling the altitude and visibility kept getting worse. At one point he thought we should turn around, but I knew we were close. I moved on ahead, but kept Billy in sight, which was fairly easy because of his neon yellow jacket. I told him I was going to check out the ridge and see how close we were to the summit. As I gained the ridge I realized there was no where else higher to go, so I looked around for the summit marker.
After I found the marker I turned around to tell Billy, but I couldn't see him, and with the wind blowing as hard as it was you couldn't hear someone shouting 15 feet from you. I was a little worried, but I knew he was close because I had seen him right below me less than 30 seconds prior to that. So I pulled out my whistle and started blowing it to direct Billy to the summit. Then I saw him appear out of the clouds.
We stayed on top just long enough for some quick summit photos then headed down. No views on the most prominent peak in New Mexico today. Oh, well, guess I'll just have to come back again someday. Fun hike even in spite of the weather. Had some hot gatorade on the way back.
When we got back to the camp our backpacks were missing. We hung them high in a tree because there was some food and trash in them. I'm pretty sure an animal did not get them, because there wasn't shredded pieces of my backpack lying around. Luckily, we didn't have much in them and whoever stole the packs left the tent and sleeping bags, we were pretty thankful for that. There have been some discussions on the forum about who might have stolen them...Apaches, Mexicans, Texans. But to label the thieves with one of those names would be insulting to those groups of people , even Texans (ha!! my first stab at a Texan. Wait...I am one) The thieves belong in a whole other group to themselves......douchebags!!
I needed an excuse for a new pack anyway.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
That sucks your stuff was stolen. I had my Jeep broken into this summer at a trailhead and the douchebag(s) took my backpack that had a bunch of climbing gear (over $200). I actually felt violated and I lost a little bit of faith in humanity at that point. It‘s too bad there are still people like that in this world.
The tree covered in ice looks really cool though. Way to persevere in those conditions!
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