"I wanted to get a very early start, because of a long drive and a very difficult mountain, so I left my house, with my dog Daisy, at 2:20 AM, September 20, 2010, to head to northern New Mexico to hike the 12,594 elevation mountain, Virsylvia Peak. I took one of my 4 personal days off work to do this before the high elevation snows set in. Nine days before this, I left the house at 3:30 AM with my son Garret to do the 2 Big Costilla Peaks in Northern New Mexico, but after hiking for awhile we came across a “No Trespassing for Any Reason” sign. We changed plans and headed to Virsylvia Peak. After a number of attempts in my Toyota Land Cruiser we headed to the little town of El Rito, north of Questa on highway 522. In the little town we headed east on El Rito road, then north. Our map showed a trail on forest service land that ascended very close to the top of the mountain. The 4 wheel drive road was very difficult and would scratch the paint of anyone with a new vehicle. Mine is made for this. We kept driving until the road matched up with the trail, but no trail. After leaving for Big Costilla at 7:15 it was now 11:00 AM. The trail showed it followed Jaracito Canyon. It may have..." — Phil-Robinson • Sep 20, 2010