I left the house at 3:20 AM, headed North to the town of Costilla then headed an hour east on highway 196 and parked at the corral parking area. (N 36.47.088 W 105.14.073) It was a 4 hour drive. The starting elevation was 9950 feet. It was a cool, (49 degrees) crisp, cloudy morning. I started hiking a 7:30 AM. I hiked straight up the south ridge of Costilla Peak and arrived at the top after a 2.5 hour nonstop hike, at 10:00 AM. The distance to the top was 4.2 miles. From Costilla Peak I headed straight to Ash Mountain North and arrived after hiking 4.5 hours and 7.1 miles. It was noon. The hike from Ash Mountain North to Ash Mountain South is almost continuous boulders! It was very, very hard hiking. You have to watch every step or risk twisting an ankle. You have to come off the mountain to an elevation of about 10, 775 then go back up again. It was very hard and tiresome going up boulders to get to Ash Mountain South. Finally I reached the top after hiking 8.25 miles in six hours. I did not really want to do more boulders, but I did not have a choice. Rather than going back down the way I came, which might be the best way to do the descent. I continued south along the ridge. I began to realize that there were cliffs almost all the way to the west. I did a lot of praying to find the right way down without descending into a cliff. I went south to the saddle, boulder walking all the time, and decided to try a place down. Fortunately it was a small area that I could get around the cliffs. It was hard going down but not dangerous. I kept hiking through the forest until I came to meadows and a little stream. Part way down the meadow I found a trail leading me back a little east of where I parked the car and then I hiked about a quarter mile west on the road to the car. The total hike was 8 hours and 45 minutes and I hiked 12.3 miles. It felt like I had hiked more than that, having to hike on boulders for 2.5 miles of the trip. I headed back, and almost immediately saw a heard of about 20 to 25 elk. It was a wonderful hike and I know I got my exercise for the day.