"Day 1: I have hiked Truchas Peak 5 times before but have never hiked the other 3 Truchas peaks. On Saturday morning, July 11, 2009 I left the house at 5 AM with my son Garret. I hiked with him to Truchas Peak when he was 12 and his brother Brandon was 10. He is now 29. We drove to Santa Barbara campground and began to hike about 8 AM. Our goal for the day was the Truchas Lakes. We hiked into the Pecos Wilderness and up the West Fork of the Santa Barbara. I have hiked out this way 3 times before but never hiked up. Most people do this hike in 2 days. It is 13 miles to the Truchas Lakes by the signs, but my GPS said it was 11 miles. We were starting at an elevation of 8800 feet and going to the ridge which is 12000 feet. It is a gorgeous canyon, one of my favorite in NM. The first half of the hike has an elevation gain of only 1000 feet and there are some beautiful meadows for a first night’s stay, but we pressed on. This is the 4th year straight that I have been doing these hikes with my son, and what a joy it is for me to do that with him. On past hikes we had 50 to 55 pound packs, but we wanted to go lighter so that we could press on further. We converted to what I call Ultralight..." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 12, 2009