I thought I had all 75 of the 11K peaks in New Mexico. (A very inclusive list) A new type of very accurate contour elevation analysis has recently come on the scene, recalculating many new high points throughout the country. This has messed up many peoples’ peakbagging lists. This new peak height analysis is called LIDAR, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging. This is remote sensing technology that uses a laser beam to very accurately measure high points in an area. So far, it has only messed with one of my mountain peaks, Peak 11,077/70/60. The new area high point is Peak 11,078 and it is 1.5 miles away from the other, as the crow flies. So……….

I left from the house of the peakbagger with the designated screen name Swithich, Labor Day 5:45 AM, September 4, 2023. We had to drive all the way to the Colorado border, then come back into northern New Mexico through some backwoods’ roads. To get there, just before Antonito, Colorado turn west on Highway 17 and go 34 miles, then turn south on to Highway 117, to Forest Road 686 to coordinates 36.9776 -106.4475 . There are about 6.5 miles of dirt road after turning off of Highway 17. The first half works for a passenger car, but the last 3.25 miles needs a tough high clearance 4WD. There are lots of ruts, bumps, holes filled with water and partially downed trees. Bring a saw and or hand winch, if a tree were to fall before leaving. We started hiking at 10:20 AM, about 4.5 hours after leaving Albuquerque. The temperature was refreshingly cool. We hiked through mostly blue spruce forest; a few aspens were here and there. We saw a covey of grouse as we were hiking. The starting elevation was 10,724. When I go into an area, I like to get any high point that someone later could put on a peak list, so my plan was to hike peak bump 11,030, then the new area high point 11,078, then Peak 10,870 (New on Peakery & Peakbagger with 200 prominence.) then the old area high point which goes under several elevations, 11,077/70/60. We followed a road, mild bushwhacking, a road again, then mild bushwhacking to the top of peak bump 11,030. We followed the same pattern to Peak 11,078, prominence 857 feet. I recaptured all the 11K peaks again! This took about an hour of hiking, 1.7 miles and had an up-down elevation gain of 522 feet. The entire hike was a mix of being deep in the trees and beautiful open country with massively expansive awe-inspiring views in all directions. We came west off the mountain and had hard bushwhacking for about two-thirds of a mile. This was probably the hardest part of the hike, going over many downed trees. Finally, the area opened up, we went over a couple of tiny creeks, then to the top of Peak 10,870. We were 2.5 hours from the start, 3.3 miles and up-down elevation gain 1064. The views were incredible, seeing far into the Colorado mountains to the north, and Grouse Mesa to the south. The wind started. We looped down the mountain a bit and to get out of the wind and stopped for a 25-minute lunch. We hiked through meadows that were seasonally turning golden and beautifully waving in the wind. My hiking friend with long legs shot ahead of me to the next peak. This is the second time I have hiked this peak, the first time thinking it was the area high point. Again, spectacular views from this vantage point. It took us 5 miles from the start, 3 hours and 50 minutes, we had an up-down elevation gain of 1868 feet. The last part was very much like the start, bushwhack, road, bushwhack, road. We finished the loop and made it back to my hiking friend’s SUV. The total hike was 5.8 miles, our hiking time was 4 hours and 25 minutes, including a 25-minute lunch stop. Our total up-down elevation gain was 2060 feet. That now makes 77 on a very inclusive 11K peak list and my highest NM peak list expands to 190 peaks. I drove most of the way back to Albuquerque. Our total driving time for the day was 9.5 hours. Probably two-thirds of my hikes have been by myself, so I very much enjoyed hiking with someone.

Highest 184 (190) Peaks in New Mexico. A very inclusive list.
https://peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=-925606&cid=1477