Day 1
Our 3-day hiking adventure started when we left at 5:15 AM on July 16, 2010 heading towards northern New Mexico. I went with a friend of mine, Jim. I took my 4 wheel drive Toyota Land Cruiser because I was not sure of the condition of the roads. In the town of Truchas we went straight on road 639. You definitely need a 4 wheel drive for this road. Driving it was a fun adventure and we arrived at the trailhead at 8:20. The starting elevation was 8950 feet. We started hiking, to Hidden Lake, at 8:40. It was a beautiful cool day. I was carrying 33 pounds including all of our group gear. Towards the end of the hike we decided to bushwhack up the hill, rather than going to Trampas Lakes and then cutting back. If you want ease, do not do this. We arrived at the lake at 1:00 PM, after hiking 5.1 miles. The elevation of our camping area was 11,300 feet. We set up camp just in time. A big thunderstorm blew in. There was rain, thunder and lightning for about an hour and a half. We sat under a tarp and watched it all. After the rain we started a fire, cooked steaks and then went to bed.

Day 2
Because of thunderstorms forming almost every afternoon, I wanted to get an early start. I got up at 5 AM. I got breakfast and coffee ready. Jim had a bout with elevation sickness, headache and nausea. He said he was not going to be able to go, yet in a short time he was feeling better and decided to go. We left camp at 7 AM with the plan to burn it straight up the hill to Jicarilla Peak. It was a beautiful morning with not a cloud in site. It was a leg burning hill climb! We arrived at the peak at 8:20 after going only three quarters of a mile. The peaks elevation is 12,494 feet. We continued the hike along a beautiful ridge, hiking to the top of each little peak along the way, including Peak 12,469. It was one of the most beautiful days of hiking that you could ask for, about 70 degrees, no wind and incredible views in all directions. We saw a great place for a ridge camp along the way. We arrived at Sheepshead Peak, elevation 12,696, at 10:20 after hiking 2.4 miles. Between Truchas North Peak and Sheepshead Peak is an unmarked peak, 12,900. We decided to do this peak, just to make sure that we got everything in the area. We went down to the saddle then up. It was another leg burner. The top was absolutely beautiful. We arrived at 11:45 and ate lunch. It was 3.2 miles from the start. Sometimes when you get to the top of a very cold windy peak you are ready to get off right away, but this time it was so perfect, I did not want to get down. We stayed and enjoyed the views for about an hour. We went down off the peak the same way we came, down to the saddle. We came off the ridge by way of a steep grassy hill, over a bolder field then to the two Trampas Lakes. The lakes would be a great place to camp. We saw some big horn sheep in the area. From there we hiked back to our camp and arrived at about 3:00 PM. The total trip was 8 hours including lunch and it was 5.1 miles. I took a small nap, watched some of the afternoon rain sitting under a tarp, lit a campfire and I had a dehydrated beef teriyaki dinner then went to bed.

Day 3
The next morning I got up at 6:30. We had some breakfast then we hiked out, leaving at 9:50. We decided not to bushwhack the same way we came, rather take the whole trail. We headed towards Trampas lakes. The dividing trail is hard to see, so someone hiking needs to watch carefully or they will end up at the lakes rather than going back to their car. It was another beautiful day of hiking; the plants, trees and wildflowers even more beautiful than before because of the freshness of the rains. We arrived back at our car at 1:30 after hiking a little over 6 miles. The total 3-day hike was 16.2 miles and we had an up-down elevation gain of 4809 feet. Jim soaked his feet in the cold stream and we headed back. We took a different route back, road 207, back to highway 76, through the mountain town of Truchas then back home. You do not need a 4 wheel drive for this road. It was a spectacular time of being in Gods beautiful creation! When I got back I home, in the mountains east of Albuquerque, I heard a bear had been in my trash.

See pictures of highest peaks in New Mexico: 1 of 62 of highest 184 NM peaks. Part 1 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAjCsjbhYMw
See pictures of highest peaks in New Mexico: 63 of 124 of highest 184 NM peaks. Part 2 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrFMjoB9zNY

List of highest 184 peaks in New Mexico (Now 190) A very inclusive list!
https://peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=-925606&cid=1477