"Sandwiched between Wheeler Peak to the north and Truchas Peak to the south, and their many accompanying 12 and 13 thousand foot mountain peaks, is a set of 6 slightly smaller 11,000 plus peaks. I left the house with my dog Daisy at 5 AM, May 18, 2013, to pick up my last 11K peak in that area The peak’s name is Cerro Del Oso. The elevation is 11,255 feet. To make it a longer hike I planned to bag 2 other 10K peaks along the way. It was a three hour trip from my home. From highway 518, south of Taos, I took Forest Road 442 to the east for about 8 miles. It is somewhat of a rough road. I had my 4WD SUV, yet with some maneuvering a passenger car “should” be able make it. I parked when my GPS said 6 tenths of a mile to the peak. It was a chilly cloudy morning. I was carrying about 15 pounds of emergency gear and water just for the conditioning. The starting elevation was 10,400 feet. I trudged up the northeast side of the peak through quite a bit of snow. The snowfall was unusually small this past winter. If it had been a regular snowfall year it would have been very difficult to maneuver on this May 18th date. It was not too difficult today. My dog got stuck a couple of times with her..." — Phil-Robinson • May 18, 2013