I find that sometimes one of the biggest peakbagging burdens is getting there. The drive there and back occasionally takes longer than the hike, so my wife and I drove to Red River, New Mexico for the 4th of July weekend to stay for 3 days and 2 nights. I planned 3 days of peakbagging while she studied for some of her nursing classes. Today, July 5th, 2015, was the final day of peakbagging on this trip. We had to check out by noon, so I planned the hike that would take the least amount of time. I traveled to the east end of Red River then south on highway 578. I drove south for only a few miles to a residential area with beautiful mountain homes which is kind of an extension of Red River. I traveled east on Black Copper Canyon road. This did not work. There was a gate a short way up the road. I headed back north to the first road that turned to the east. There is a fire station building at the start of the road. This drive takes a strong 4 wheel drive vehicle. It is a very brutal road! I traveled up the road a ways and stopped. I could have gone a little further, but I wanted the extra hike. My starting elevation was 9575 feet and the time was 8:00 AM. I traveled east up the road then at a certain point started heading straight SSE to the peak. I could see to the east a beautiful meadow with lush green grass surrounded by a rich forest. I headed straight to the peak. It was not too difficult a hike, but there were a number of downed logs to cross. I arrived at the top after hiking about an hour and 15 minutes. It was 1.7 miles. There were no views from the top. It was tree covered. I stayed there for about 15 minutes. To the east was Peak Bump 10818 and I headed that direction. On the way I saw a number of big grouse. It took 15 or 20 minutes to get there from the other peak. There were few views from this peak, but all along the hike grand vistas would open up. I had now traveled 2.1 miles. I headed back pretty much the same way I came up, returned to the road and followed the road to the SUV. The total hike was about 4 miles and it took 2 hours and 45 minutes from the start. The elevation gain for the day was 1461 feet. I returned to our lodging in Red River and we checked out at noon for the drive back to the Albuquerque area.

I hiked 20 miles and 6 mountain peaks, not counting the bump, over the 3 day weekend. My total elevation gain for the weekend was 7218 feet. See the trip reports for Peak 12225 and Ortiz Peak.