One Man's Odyssey: Pecos Baldy Lake and Truchas Attempt

"Now here I am a dying upon the Matterhorn

Not a thing for me to lie in or a thing to keep me warm
The Queen would surely knight me if I could get back down
But it's closer here to heaven than it is back to the ground" - Matterhorn, The Country Gentlemen

As my dramatic quote choice of may betray, this is a tale of a (somewhat) failed trip. Deep in the heart of old New Mexico, where descendants of the original Spanish settlers have long lived in relative isolation, the Pecos Wilderness contains some of New Mexico's best hiking and storied history. The most imposing peak in the wilderness, and perhaps New Mexico as a whole, is 13,108' Truchas Peak.

History

The Pecos Wilderness oozes with history like nearly no other place in New Mexico. The American Indian presence has been felt for 9000 years, but the Pecos Pueblo, settled in the 1100's, grew into a healthy settlement by the time of the Spanish arrival until it was abandoned some time after the Pueblo Revolt. Nambe Pueblo and Tesuque Pueblo are two examples of still-inhabited Pueblos bordering the wilderness. The oldest Spanish communities in New Mexico are nestled in the western foothills of the Pecos, including Santa Fe and smaller communities like Las Trampas, Chimayo, and Truchas, the namesake of Truchas Peak. Even more recent history makes its mark on the Pecos. Supposedly Lake Katherine, the supremely beautiful mountain lake nestled beneath Santa Fe Baldy, was named after Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, the wife of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who owned a ranch in the Pecos. Robert Oppenheimer's visits in Northern New Mexico inspired him to propose two New Mexico locations among the list of sites for a future nuclear weapons laboratory: the Pecos Wilderness and the Los Alamos Ranch School nestled in the Jemez Mountains. Of course, we know which one was chosen.

All of the southern Pecos 12ers in one shot

Los Alamos far in the distance

The rich history of the Pecos Wilderness produces some spectacularly haunting place names as well. "Chimayosos Peak" is named after the local ranchers from Chimayo. "Penitente Peak" (penance peak) is named after the Penitente order of flagellants local to Northern New Mexico, a group also known as Los Hermanos de la Sangre de Cristo (Brothers of the Blood of Christ), making them the likely namesake for the Sangre de Cristo mountain range that comprises the Southern Rocky Mountains. "Hermit Peak" near Las Vegas is named for a Hermit friar who lived in a nearby cave until he was killed by Indians. "Cerrito del Padre" is named for a padre who would travel to the wilderness to perform mass for the Chimayosos ranchers. (All place names come from this book). While Truchas Peak may not have as thrilling a name (the town of Truchas itself is named after the abundant trout fishing in the river that flows through the town), it does have one interesting historical tidbit. Until the 1950's, it was believed to be the tallest peak in New Mexico, rather than 13,167' Wheeler Peak near Taos, until improved measurement techniques corrected that distinction.

Truchas Peak is a true wilderness peak. While the closest trailhead might make it a long day-hike, it has been riddled with vandalism and poor road quality to the point where few who know better attempt it (it should be noted that, rightfully or not, the local Spanish communities have a reputation similar to backwoods Appalachian communities in the South, i.e., the movie Deliverance, but in Spanish). The next-closest access point is the Jack's Creek Trailhead in Cowles via the Jack's Creek Trail and Trailrider's Wall. This is the route on which we would attempt our ascent.

Trip Report

Day 1

We got a late start (by my standards), leaving Los Alamos at 9 AM, and, after being stuck behind a very slow driver in the Pecos Valley, arrived at the trailhead at 11 AM. Weather reports were confusing, showing little chance of rain only 8 miles north of locations where it estimated high chances of rain. Welcome to monsoon in New Mexico. Rule of thumb is that storms pick up about noon, so I figured we had about an hour of guaranteed good weather. We immediately took off to our destination, Pecos Baldy Lake, a relatively short 7 mile uphill jaunt on the Jack's Creek trail. After climbing some mild switchbacks in the woods, the trail opens up to beautiful meadows with wide views of the wooded mesas in the eastern Pecos Valley.

Trailhead

Pecos Valley

Meadows

Being close to several campgrounds, this is a popular place for dayhikers and overnighters alike. We saw bugcatchers, youth groups, and horseback riders fairly consistently this close to the trailhead. After walking through some groves of aspen (or maybe birch?) trees, we came upon more meadows, this time affording views to the West at stunning peaks like Santa Fe Baldy, Redonda Peak, and Pecos and East Pecos Baldys, below which we would find our campsite at Pecos Baldy Lake. We passed grazing cows on our way to the crossing with Jack's Creek.

Grove of trees

Back into the meadows

Pecos Baldy (left) and East Pecos Baldy (hidden on right) begin to come into view

Full view of the two Baldys (Baldies?)

L to R: Penitente Peak, Lake Peak, Santa Fe Baldy, Redonda Peak

Cows

Made it to Jack's Creek

Jack's Creek, the first water source after leaving the trailhead, marks the approximate halfway point to Pecos Baldy Lake. From here, the trail follows Jack's Creek for a bit (with a few quality campsites nearby) until pulling due north to the lake. By this point ominous clouds had started making noise east of us, and I assumed it was only a matter of time before we were stuck in a characteristic New Mexican summer storm. We continued on through some burn damage before making the final push through some healthy forest and meadows to Pecos Baldy Lake. The lake is breathtaking, and while I am partial to Lake Katherine, Pecos Baldy Lake doesn't have nearly the crowds. I only counted two other tents apart from ours.

Pecos Baldy Lake from the north bank

East Pecos Baldy looms over the lake

Pecos Baldy Lake in the noon light

One exciting thing about this trip is that, since monsoon has started, fire restrictions have been lifted in the Santa Fe National Forest! That meant we got to enjoy a pleasant campfire, something I haven't been able to do all summer. Since this was a relatively short day with lots of down time, having a fire was welcome. Being able to have a fire gives you something to do around camp. You can look for firewood, bask in the warmth of the fire and share a conversation, stoke the coals, burn sticks and write your name in rocks. It's just an all-around good time. However, I will stress the difficulty of getting a fire going when at higher elevation due to little oxygen.

Deflated cow at the lake

View just south of camp

Knowing the long day ahead of me tomorrow, I went to bed at 8:30. Unfortunately, my sleep was rather poor. First, I woke up at midnight thinking it was 5 AM because the full moon was so bright. Then, my nose stuffed up, and I had serious problems breathing in the high elevation (Pecos Baldy Lake is at about 11,500').

Day 2

We awoke at 5 AM and partially took down camp, packing up anything we needed for our trip to Truchas Peak and leaving the rest in our tents. We made way to Pecos Baldy Lake and ascended the low saddle to Trailrider's Wall.

Pecos Baldy Lake moonlit in the early morning

Looking down at Pecos Baldy Lake from the saddle

First glimpse at Truchas Peak from Trailrider's Wall

Looking back at East Pecos Baldy as the sun rises

Right away we could sense that this was not going to be as easy as other Pecos peaks. First we were greeted with a rushing early morning wind that made it hard to stand steady. Then, we traversed loose, steep rock, unsure of which route was a human trail and which was a goat trail. We eventually hit our rhythm and made it to the first saddle on the wall as the sun rose and gradually warmed us while calming the winds.

Cairn on Trailriders' Wall

Further away from East Pecos Baldy and Pecos Baldy, with Redonda Peak in the distance

Truchas is getting slightly closer

L to R: Truchas Peak, North Truchas Peak, and Chimayosos Peak

We eventually reached the final semblance of maintained trail before climbing up a steep wooded slope that would mark our final ascent. At this point we started to become somewhat skeptical that we'd be able to climb the peak. It was described as a Class II walkup, but the southern ridge looked rather steep, and the sheer granite cliffs on the east face as well as the 1500' drop to Jose Vigil Lake on the southwest face were intimidating.

Bighorn sheep at a watering hole with Chimayosos in the distance

Final ascent to Truchas

North Truchas, Jicarita, and Chimayosos in the distance

Jose Vigil Lake in the shadow of Little South Truchas

We skirted Little South Truchas, an unnamed hump just south of Truchas Peak, and looked at the task ahead of us. My GPS showed about 0.3 miles and 600 feet of vertical elevation to gain. Brian, my hiking partner, elected not to continue, understandably because he had his dog, and summitting a steep, rocky peak is hard enough with a dog, but even harder considering we were swarmed by bighorn sheep. I decided to push on and see what I could do, but after getting within 0.25 miles and 500 vertical feet of the summit, I decided not to continue. While the steepness did frighten me a bit (I am by no means a mountaineer, most of my summits are easy walk-ups), it was particularly my exhaustion that lead me to quit. I believe my difficulty breathing the night before added to the effects of the elevation I had been experiencing. My lungs felt so sore that each breath was sickeningly painful, and I began to feel nauseous. I decided that with an 11 mile hike to get back to the trailhead, I would not push my limits when I already felt so poor.

Looking back at Little South Truchas from the slope of Truchas Peak

About the furthest I got on Truchas Peak

Overlooking the east Pecos Valey

Though we did not get to summit Truchas, we were both exhausted and knew that we had seen some pretty amazing scenery. We trudged back, making it back to the trailhead by about 2:30 PM. On the way, we were again surrounded by bighorn sheep, one of whom daringly approached us and then seemed to lower his head to show his horns. We did not stick around to determine whether he was sizing us up or just grazing uncomfortably close to us.

Unsurprisingly, dogs and bighorn sheep do not get along

Returning via Trailriders' Wall

East Pecos Baldy

One last look at the Truchas group and Chimayosos Peak

Herd of bighorn sheep

A bighorn sheep ewe and lamb

Summary

It's never fun not to reach your goal, but with that said, I do not feel too bad about not summitting Truchas Peak. The views from Trailriders' Wall were some of the best I've had in New Mexico, and being surrounded by herds of bighorn sheep was quite an experience. If I live in NM after graduation (a possibility), I will make it a point to attempt Truchas Peak again, but I would attempt it as a 3-day trip. If I didn't have the ensuing 7 mile hike with all my gear from Pecos Baldy Lake to the trailhead, I would have endured the pain and climbed the peak. I also now have a better understanding of which routes are correct and not just goat trails and would not spend time and energy taking routes that are hard to navigate.

Miscellany

As of writing this I have three more weekends in New Mexico before I leave for the summer. I am admittedly not feeling very motivated to do any more backpacking trips before I leave. I am trying hard to finish my summer project before I leave, and I feel a tad guilty that I have not done any work on my PhD research since I left Raleigh in mid-May. I had originally planned on doing a trip to southwestern CO, but after the Conejos trip I am a little put off to the idea of driving 4 hours and immediately hitting the trail, especially with the upcoming 27 hour drive to Raleigh looming over the horizon. I may do an overnight trip in the San Pedro Parks or the Pecos near Ski Santa Fe, but for the most part I will probably stick to day hikes. I have been eyeing Santa Fe Baldy (and perhaps joining it up with Penitente and Lake Peak for a grueling 15-mile dayhike), Gold Hill near Taos, and Caballo Mountain in the Jemez.

Also, I would like to share some pictures from a dayhike I did two weekends ago. I climbed up Chicoma Mountain (11,561'), the highest mountain in the Jemez. This is an easy hike, barely over a mile. It is not even very steep from the trailhead, which is situated at 10,739' and accessible by a high-clearance, 4WD road (easily navigable, but do not attempt with low clearance; 2WD could probably get by OK, but some of the gravel roads are easy to slide on and leave little room for error). The only challenge is that it is a route rather than an actual maintained trail, but some Googling will find you a reliable GPS track. It is an easy walk-up for the first 2/3s, and it is only difficult for the last 1/3 because of downed trees. Because treeline is high in NM and the Jemez Mountains are relatively low, Chicoma does not have 360 views at the summit, but a meadow on the western face gives views to the west (San Pedro Parks) and north (Polvadera Peak and Cerro Pedernal), and the recognizable huge meadow on the southern face gives views to the south (Caballo Mountain, Los Alamos, Valle Caldera, Sandia Mountains) and east (Pecos Wilderness, Espanola). There is reportedly a Pueblo shrine on the top of the mountain. I saw parallel rows of large rocks on the peak, and I suppose this might have been the shrine, but there are no pictures that I have found online, and I forgot to take a picture because I was in a hurry due to foreboding weather. Because the drive is long and the hike is short, I would recommend pairing this with nearby Polvadera Peak (11,232') to hit two of the three 11,000'+ peaks in the Jemez (the third being Redondo Peak near Valle Grande). I did not because the weather looked grim.