"I have not been hiking many peaks recently because there are not many more peaks that I am interested in hiking. I do a little mountain jogging each week to stay in shape. In the Book “New Mexico’s High Peaks,” by Mike Butterfield, he lists the Peak 12,728. He shows it with a prominence of 150 feet. This is a great NM peak informational picture book and lists all the 80ish 12K and 13K peaks. I decided to get that peak and maybe something else in the area. So that I would be able to get an earlier start I drove to Red River, New Mexico to spend the night. I got up at 4:00 AM, July 16, 2021, and drove an hour to Williams’s Lake parking area south of the Taos Ski area. You do not need a 4WD vehicle to get here. There were no clouds in the sky and the temperature was in the upper 40s. I started hiking at 5:45 AM at an elevation of 10,253 feet. It is a 2-mile hike on a very nice trail to William’s Lake, from there it is bushwhacking until the timberline. There were deer in the meadows going up. I knew that it was going to be very hard climbing up the hill on all fours so I was kind of kicking myself the night before for what I knew I was getting myself into. It was a chug getting to the..." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 16, 2021

"Hiked up to Williams Lake and set up camp in the area. We decided to go for an early evening summit instead of the next morning since weather cleared up, and it was the right move. Beautiful up on the peak with nobody around except a family of big horn sheep. Did the short trek up to Mt. Walter as well before heading back down to camp for a relaxing night." — jodola • Jul 15, 2020

"Headed over to Walter from the summit of Wheeler Peak, we got our best views from the summit of Walter. Weather cleared up and we had views from both sides of the mountain. A bunch of marmot at the summit hanging out. Great day and great weather when we got over to Walter. " — LGH-Tom • Aug 20, 2018

"Day 1: My daughter Christina came to town for a 2 week visit and we made plans to have a 3 day peakbagging and backpacking adventure. I originally planned for us to peakbag in the Pecos Wilderness, but fire restrictions closed the area. We decided to go to the Wheeler Peak Wilderness, home of the highest peak in New Mexico. We left the house at 5:00 AM, June 15, 2018. We drove to the town of Red River then went south on Highway 578 to the East Fork Parking area. We arrived at 8:20 and were hiking by 8:40. The starting elevation was 9630 and it was a cool clear morning. Christina brought her dog Bane along for the trip. I had a 34 pound pack and Christina had a 29 pound pack and Bane a little pack with food. New Mexico was in the middle of a drought, so I was surprised how lush and green everything was. We could hardly find a square meter that did not have wildflowers in it. We started hiking on Trail 56, later this turned into Trail 91. I have 2 speeds of hiking, one is a slow a pace, but I can do it all day without stopping. Then I have a “let’s move it” pace. I used the slow pace, and except for some standing pictures stops, we did not stop all the way until we reached our cam..." — Phil-Robinson • Jun 16, 2018

"After climbing Guadalupe Peak, TX and Black Mesa, OK the last 2 days, today we made our way up to Wherler Peak via Bull-of-the-Woods trail. We made quick stops at BOTW Peak, Fraser Mountain & Walter Peak along the way. Took the Williams Lake trail down (with some perfect glissading). " — Kevin • Jun 4, 2017

"Hike to Wheeler via Bull-of-the Woods Trail, hitting Frazer Mountain and Mount Walter enroute. Returned to the trailhead by hiking down Williams Lake trail followed by a walk down the road." — fredbrown585 • Jun 18, 2014

"Made the trip from Las Vegas, NV with 10 other friends from the Hiking Las Vegas hiking group, with the single objective of summitting New Mexico's highest peak, Wheeler. We took the Bull-of-the-Woods trail up, stopping at Bull-of-the-Woods Peak, Fraser Peak & Walter Peak on the way. It was an early season ascent & we did encounter quite a bit of snow on the way up, but nothing too difficult to cross. After Wheeler, we descended via Williams Lake Trail, but 1/2 way down the switchbacks, we encountered a LOT of really deep snow that went all the way down to the bottom. We decided to turn lemons into lemonade & had an impromptu butt-sliding session all the way to the bottom! It was definitely the quickest & funnest descent I've done! After that was the long slog back to our vehicles. What an amazing day! This was my 4th state high point in the last 4 years. Loved it! This is one of the best hikes I've done!" — Kevin • May 4, 2013

"Bright and early Friday morning, September 21, 2012 my friend Jim Miller and I headed north to hike the highest peak in New Mexico, Wheeler Peak, plus 4 other peaks. We left my house at 5:45 AM, drove to the town of Red River then south on highway 578 to a parking area on the East Fork of the Red River. It took us 4 hours of driving. It was a cool clear fresh crisp morning when we started hiking. We started at 10:00 AM at an elevation of 9630 feet. We left on trail 56 which later turned into trail 91. I hiked Wheeler Peak with my son Garret 6 years ago on the same month. This was before I became an ultralight luxury camper. On that hike I was carrying about 50 pounds. This hike, including all the group gear and two pounds one ounce of prime rib eye steak, I was carrying 35 pounds. (The steak weighed more than my pack.) Our plan was to camp at Lost Lake then hike 5 peaks the next day. On the way up someone told us about a good camping area at Horseshoe Lake so we changed plans and decided to stay there. It was a beautiful forested hike, at times crossing and hiking near a pretty little stream. I have hiked so many peaks this year, 26 before this trip, that I didn’t even feel the hik..." — Phil-Robinson • Sep 22, 2012

"On Saturday, September 2, 2006, we drove south of Red River and parked at the Wheeler Peak parking area. My 26 year old son Garret and I put on backpacks, I had about 50 lbs. Also along was Garret’s part basset hound, Sam. We hiked about 7 miles, into the Wheeler Wilderness area, to Lost Lake, and set up a base camp. It rained and hailed the last mile and it was a little cold and wet when we arrived. We had a wonderful rib eye steak dinner and an evening campfire. The next morning, September 3rd, we put on day packs, and hiked a 6 1/3 mile loop until we came back to our base camp. We hiked past Horseshoe Lake, to the highest peak in New Mexico, Wheeler Peak. Incredible views! We went along a fairly established trail. We then headed north to the second highest peak, Mt. Walter. We decided not to go back by way of trail and continued north until we could see Lost Lake from the ridge then descended a steep slope to the lake and our base camp. We had a good dinner and a good night’s sleep. The next morning, September 4th, it was clear and beautiful; we put on backpacks and returned to Garret’s truck. The return trip, as always, is so much easier, downhill and with less weight. We tried..." — Phil-Robinson • Sep 3, 2006