In Mike Butterfield’s book, The New Mexico’s High Peaks he lists Peak 12,483. It was not listed on Peakbagger or Peakery website but now is listed. In my planning I realized it would be too much of a hike for one day. I am good for a little over 15 miles in a day, but I knew 18 miles would be too much for a single day. To get Peak 12,483, Santa Fe Baldy, elevation 12,622, has to be hiked and then hiked a second time to get out. There is a smaller peak, Peak 12,094 that I hoped to get.

I went with my friend Brian. He is an outdoor enthusiast and a mountain biker. We both go to Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He brought his dog Penny. We started at the Santa Fe Ski area parking lot. This is a beautiful aspen covered drive from Santa Fe and only about an hour and 15 minutes from Albuquerque. In the fall, it is a spectacular drive with all the aspens turning golden. We started hiking at an elevation of 10,300 feet at 7:45 AM, Saturday August 21, 2021. It was a cool morning and I almost felt like I needed a heavy shirt. We headed up the mountain for about a mile and elevation gain of about 500 feet to the entrance to the Pecos Wilderness. Penny was in dog heaven. From this point it is a 3-mile gradual downhill hike to the camping area. The trail was lined with beautiful mixed aspen and blue spruce. At the 4.1-mile mark we camped in a beautiful area between 2 streams. The camp elevation was 10,500 feet. This is the last water and if anyone is doing this same trip you will not find any water further along on the hike. One of the most efficient pieces of ultralight equipment that everyone should own is a Katadyn gravity water filter. It weighs only 12 ounces, holds 10 liters, and fills up a liter container in about a minute. One trip to the stream and you are good for a 2 or 3-day camp. I filled it up with about 8 liters. We set up 2 small ultralight tents, stayed around for about 40 minutes, got out our day packs, and headed on. It was a nice trail to the ridgeline, then a bit of a rocky trail to the top. It was cloud covered and so cool I almost put on my lightweight down jacket. The views were expansively wonderful in all directions! We arrived at the top at 1:05. The hiking distance was 7.8 miles and the elevation gain was 2953, 4 hours and 40 minutes of hiking time. I hiked Santa Fe Baldy twice before when I was in Boy Scout Troop 166 at ages 14 and 16. We camped both times and once burned it up the mountain directly south of the peak, and once burning it up from Lake Katherine. The difficulty was etched in my brain, and today’s hike seemed easier than then. We continued along northern ridge to Peak 12,483. Beautiful Lake Katherine came into view. It was a little more work than I anticipated. We arrived at the top at 2:00 PM, 1 mile further from Santa Fe Baldy and the daily elevation gain 3235 feet. The rugged Truchas Peaks filled the northern view. I wrestled with myself getting Peak 12,094, thinking, “I don’t need this.” It was a little tough going over bolder fields but I knew it would be especially tough re-hiking Santa Fe Baldy from that peak. I climbed the peak by doing the denial technique, saying I am not going to do it, until I had it. I have climbed lots of peaks using the denial technique. We reached the top at 2:55, eight tenths of a mile from the last peak, 9.6 miles from the start and total daily elevation gain of 3425 feet. The next part was the hardest part of the day for me, re-climbing Santa Fe Baldy. Brian skirted the peak but I wanted to get it again. It was a rocky boulder covered route and I had to be careful with each step. It was a real chug up to the peak. I sat down for the first time for about 4 minutes along the way. I got there at 4:05 and another mile from the last peak, 10.6 for the day and an additional almost 700 feet in elevation gain, 4093 for the day. It felt so good to be on the top knowing that the uphill was over for the day. Brian and I reconnected on the other side of the peak. Brian has done some mountain jogging and is in better shape than I, so I suggested he head down and get the fire started in camp. We parted. It felt so good to be going downhill. To me the Pecos Wilderness is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I enjoyed the views and especially the beautiful Lake Fork Peak Mountain to the south. I had not eaten, so I paused at the trail divide saddle, sat for about 15 minutes, and had some very late lunch. I arrived back at camp at 6:15. The total hike was 14.1 mile and the up-down elevation gain for the day was 4168 feet. I was very worn out! Brian had the fire going. My day pack weight was about 14 pounds. My total backpacking weight was 36 pounds and this included 2.2 pounds of restaurant grade prime New York steak. I marinated the steaks for about 15 minutes in Worcestershire sauce, seasoned them, then put a 2-ounce piece of chicken wire over the mixed coals and fire and put the steaks on. Brian had partly precooked potatoes in foil on the coals and I brought mini bagels. Bagels are a great bread to take because they do not get crushed. As always, maybe the outdoors, they were some of the best steaks I have ever eaten. Sorry Ruth Chris Steakhouse, but Brian said better than what you serve. We finished up with s’mores and enjoyed a small campfire until we went to bed around 9:00 PM. It was a cool temperature of 50 degrees.

We got up about 7:00 AM and had a small breakfast. It was a cool beautiful morning. The forest sights and sounds were amazing! I have not had to wear glasses yet. One eye is a little near-sited and the other a little far-sited balancing out to 20-20. My hearing on the other hand was missing some high tones and so for the last year I have been wearing in the ear hearing aids. I mention this because I can supersonic my hearing and it is amazing to be in the forest and hear the crackling streams from a distance, the leaves swishing, and every bird and forest nuance in an amazing mixture. At 9:00 AM we packed up and gradually headed uphill for about 3 miles to the Pecos Wilderness entrance. I saw more people than I have ever seen hiking, probably over 100 on the 4 mile exit out. We saw lots of people yesterday too. This is very unusual. There are times I will hike for 4 days and never see another person. The last mile was downhill until we reached the parking lot at 11:05. The total hike was 18.1 miles and we had an up-down elevation gain of 4747. I was worn out but it was a great joy to get Peak 12483, a peak I have been thinking about for years, and nice to revisit Santa Fe Baldy.

See pictures of highest peaks in New Mexico: 1 of 62 of highest 184 NM peaks. Part 1 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAjCsjbhYMw
See pictures of highest peaks in New Mexico: 63 of 124 of highest 184 NM peaks. Part 2 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrFMjoB9zNY

List of highest 184 peaks in New Mexico (Now 190) A very inclusive list!
https://peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=-925606&cid=1477