Epic Road Trip 2009 - Day 2 (June 29, 2009)

Day 2, Wheeler Peak NM (13,167 ft) - The night passed quickly and soon an air of excitement was building as we departed the hotel entirely too early in the morning. For the uninitiated, thunderstorms often form around mountains in the early afternoon so it is important to be off of exposed ridgelines before this in order to avoid being struck by lightning. Thus, on taller mountains an early start is important and we certainly had one. We followed some winding roads to the Taos ski area and went as far up as we could via car but soon the only option remaining was to ditch the Honda Fit and start walking.

The ascent of Wheeler Peak was a trying experience. We had chosen the shorter but steeper Williams Lake Trail in order to accomplish our goal before the forecast storms arrived in the early afternoon. An early morning beginning to the climb found us shivering in the brisk mountain air. Luckily, we were soon warmed by a brisk pace and a mild incline. It was soon obvious that the altitude was going to be a major factor in our outing. Though we had slept fairly high to get acclimated, quickly into the hike everyone in the party seemed unable to catch their breath. No matter how hard we panted there was just not enough oxygen in the air. One would have expected Jared to have the hardest time, coming so recently from sea level, but he did not seem affected any more than the rest of us. We hiked through a nice forest for a good ways before coming into a clearing and spotting Williams Lake. It could be said that this spot was quite beautiful but for some reason I was more focused on exactly which of the mountains towering over us we were going to climb.

A glance at the map and a quick bearing reassured me that I was at least fairly certain of where we were headed. The weather still seemed nice, showing no signs of the predicted thunderstorms later in the day but as we left the lake, the trail took a brutal turn for the steeper.

We slogged up the trail taking solace only in the mountain goats that we saw chilling out in the morning light.

Eventually we encountered a chute of snow that had to be crossed. This was not the first snow we had found on the mountain in late June but it was the most significant. It was at this point when Jared’s novice routefinding and high level of persuasive ability allowed us to get off of the trail.

The mountain at this point turned into a giant field rocks of various sizes and degrees of stability with inclines at times exceeding 45 degrees.

We were aiming for a saddle between two mountain peaks from which we would hike along the ridgeline to the summit. I encountered especially slow going as it was soon apparent my conditioning program of coed soccer once a week was perhaps insufficient. The other group members forged ahead as I struggled up the mountain. Eventually we met atop the saddle and enjoyed an extended break. We were not there yet, but the hard work was now behind us. The ridge run was accomplished in short order and suddenly all of New Mexico lay beneath our feet. I looked down from whence we came.

The sense of accomplishment was the largest felt to this point, mostly because the mountain was the tallest we’d climbed yet. It took a while on the summit just to get over the fact that we had made it. The view was nice though there was nothing overly special to see. It always feels like quite an accomplishment to be looking down on everything around you. Nate signed the log and as he was doing this we noticed a pair of young ladies powering up the last steps of the mountain.

These ladies were quite friendly and had been doing some camping in the area. They had climbed up the opposite side of the mountain and had two friendly dogs with them. Both were students at Texas State University. We convinced them to snap our necessary photos and it was then that they made an important recommendation….Taos Pizza Outback. We knew we would be hungry by the time we reached the car, in fact we were already hungry, and pizza sounded delicious. Having rested atop the mountain and performed our required tequila ritual, we headed down the mountain. The clouds had been gathering and darkening and were beginning to look moderately threatening as we descended. The initial descent was made easier by the fact that much could be accomplished by glissading (like skiing without skis). This was both fun and fast. Eventually we escaped the loose rocks and had to hike the rest of the way. After not seeing a soul on the way up, we passed many people headed up as we descended all asking the “how much further?” question. It was during this descent that we found the trail we failed to follow on the way up (it would have been much easier). As climbing down mountains has often proved to be, there was little of interest and we just slogged our way back to the car. The weather looked increasingly threatening but there proved to be no rain in store for us on the trail. Having spent about 8 hours on the trail we were back in the parking lot exhausted but victorious. We stowed our gear and I ditched my boots for some flip flops. Nate’s car indicated low tire pressure which caused some consternation. However, hunger was now our main concern.

Fortunately we already had a hot tip to deal with that. Taos Pizza Outback was quickly located and proved to be delicious. I am confident that I do not overestimate the level of this pizza as it has been favorably reviewed by writers far more reputable than me. The pizza/beer combination was just the salve we needed for our sore and tired bodies. http://taospizzaoutback.com/index.html The final business for the day was a long drive to Clayton, NM as this would be our staging point for the next day’s assault on Black Mesa, OK. We hopped in the Fit with an eye on one of the tires and accomplished this drive with little fanfare. Showers and a collapse into hotel beds would bring the day to an end. Our first mountain was complete.