"Six years ago my son Garret and I stayed at Vermejo Park Ranch for 3 days to hike all the 11,000-foot and above peaks. We knocked off 9 of them. At the time I was not interest in any peak under 11,000 feet in elevation. Later I added to my peakbagging goals the 102 highest peaks in New Mexico with all the minor peaks in-between, currently 176 of them. Peak 10,980 is one of the 102 highest so I used it as an excuse to return, and this time with my wife. Vermejo Ranch is one of the largest private property ranches in North America. The ranch has almost as many square miles as the state of Rhode Island. The fences have been removed, the land and abundant animals protected, except for some hunting, and you feel like you have gone back into the stillness of the 1800’s. My wife and I stayed the first night in Raton, New Mexico so that we could get an early start to ranch. We left Raton at 7:30 AM, May 28, 2018, heading west on Highway 555. The road is paved for 32 miles then turns to dirt. We passed through the coded gate and were eating a wonderful breakfast buffet at the lodge at 8:45. On my last trip, one of the guides, Brian, asked if he could go along with us on our 15.4 mile hike f..." — Phil-Robinson • May 28, 2018