My wife and I drove to Red River, New Mexico to stay over the 4th of July weekend. I hiked for 3 days while she studied. Yesterday I hiked Peak 12,225. (See trip report) I had 4 peaks in my sights as I headed out, the 4th of July 2015. I drove from Red River to the town of Questa then headed northeast on highway 563 which turns into Forest Road 134. It is a good dirt road and one does not need a 4wd. I drove about 15 minutes and parked at a trailhead just north of Greenie Peak. It was a beautiful clear morning. I did not take the trail, but rather planned on bushwhacking all day. I started hiking at 9:00 AM at an elevation of 10,200 feet. I followed the road east for a short way then north through a beautiful meadow with a little stream in the center. There was a little trail for a short way, and it was a wonderful feeling to be walking on an actual trail. I almost forgot what that was like! It was an absolutely splendid hike to the top, and the easiest peak I have done this year. There was lots of wetland and marsh at different places all day and this is a good hike to have waterproof boots. I arrived at my first peak, Peak 11177, after hiking 1 hour and 25 minutes. The distance to the peak was 2.3 miles. I made a beeline to Ortiz Peak, straight down the mountain, up a beautiful marshy valley, then through deep forest with many downed logs. I arrived at Ortiz Peak after hiking 3 hours and 25 minutes and 4.8 miles and took a 15 minute break. There were not many views on today’s mountain tops, but all along the way beautiful vistas would open up. I headed down the mountain to Peak 10853. At the bottom was a stunning large green meadow, called Cabresto Park. It was part marshland and part dry. I skirted the outside of the meadow to the north, headed up a hill then down to a little stream and up to Peak 10853. This point in the hike the distance was 6.9 miles and I had been traveling about 5 hours from the start. I headed to the north, down to a little meadow with a small stream in the center then up. This part of the hike there were plenty of downed logs to go over as I hiked the forested mountain to the top. At the top of Peak 10983 I had been hiking 7.7 miles and 5 hours and 20 minutes from the start. I signed my name to the paper in the second peak registry jar I had seen today. I stayed on the top for about 15 minutes before making a beeline back to the SUV. I went straight off the mountain. It was very steep but easy because there was lots of moss on the north side of the peak to make a nice cushion going down. I would not want to hike up the way I went down! When I looked back up the mountain it really looked steep! I arrived at the road at the bottom, crossed over to a meadow with a stream in the center and followed a little trail. I completed the loop and continued down the road to my SUV. The total hike was 8.7 miles. I took 6 hours and 35 minutes to complete the hike. My total elevation gain for the day was 2522 feet. Rather than go back the way I originally came from Red River, I decided to go straight south over the mountain on a very tough 4 wheel drive road. It was an exciting rough road to drive over. I really enjoy going over roads that I could never go over in a another vehicle. It was lots of fun driving back! My 1992 Land Cruiser will go over anything. Sometimes I am amazed at what I am traveling over and it almost seems like a dream. It took an hour to get over the mountain. It takes less time to go around the other way, but it is not as fun. I arrived back and had a nice trout dinner in Red River with my wife.

Over the 3 days I hiked about 20 miles, climbing 6 peaks. My 3 day elevation gain was 7218 feet. See my trip reports for Peak 12225 and Peak 10848. My GPS track had an issue today. It did not register. I had to draw my track later, but it is still accurate. I find that when I save my track it always shows a little less than the GPS shows at the end of the hike. I am not sure why? I think the GPS is more accurate than the track because there are more readings.