22 Jul summiting Wheeler, New Mexico’s tallest peak
Wednesday June 28
Aaron and I finally tackled an overdue 2022 goal to summit New Mexico’s highest mountain – Wheeler Peak. We set out from the Williams Lake trailhead by 9am, to clear blue skies and found remaining snow patches quickly. We’d hiked to Williams Lake before, which is at the 2 mile mark, and were excited to go above and beyond this time!
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- The trail follows the Rio Hondo which begins at Williams Lake
After passing the lake, the trail became very steep and we knew we’d be climbing this grade for the remainder of the 4 miles up to the summit. But we were soon above treeline and the views were amazing!
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- Climbing through huge swaths of blooms in the lush high alpine!
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- Fabulous nature displays above 11,000 ft
We reached the summit in about 3 hours, which was a pretty solid pace compared to usual hiking speed. Likely thanks in part to living now above 7,600ft full time! The wind was raging but with the sun in full force the weather was perfect.
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- Summit of Wheeler 13,167 ft
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- Great views of Taos Ski Valley
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- Bracing against the non-stop wind gusts at the summit
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- Starting the decent from the summit!
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- Still-present snow allowed for some slick glissading before reaching treelike
We glissaded down the final snow patch, covering 100yds or more in about 3 seconds! We arrived back at the parking lot just after 2p, making our 8 mile hike in just over 5 hours. Definitely feel like proper New Mexico residents having tackled the tallest peak!
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