"A fellow outdoor enthusiast, Jeremy K, contacted me about hiking a peak. He then contacted another peakbagger, whom I have hiked with 3 times before, Richard O. We decided to hike Picuris Peak south of Taos, New Mexico. Much of my peakbagging this year has been alone. I have been doing some difficult peaks and family and friends have had little interest in hard bushwhacking. It was a great pleasure to hike with 2 other enthusiasts! I left the Albuquerque area at 6:15 AM, September 8, 2018. I drove north of Espanola, then turned west on Highway 75. I meet them at about 8:45 where Forest Road 114 intersects that road. We then drove northwest on very rough FR 114 for 3.6 miles. Forest Road 114 is extremely rough and needs a strong, high clearance 4WD vehicle. Richard was driving a Jeep and I was driving a Land Cruiser so things went well. There were massive pot holes filled with water along the way and the backend of my SUV bumped several times. We arrived at a nice meadow just before an open gate and parked. We were hiking by 9:25 AM. The starting elevation was 9000 feet. There were no clouds in the sky and it was crystal clear blue. This was a nice contrast from some other hikes ..." — Phil-Robinson • Sep 8, 2018