"I hiked this with my 10 year old son Brandon Robinson and my 12 year old son Garret Robinson. We camped for 4 nights. I carried about 85 pounds. Brandon only had a coat and a couple of small things in his backpack, but he was young and 35 miles was too much. Brandon never wanted to do it again. Garret "kind of" caught the bug. Later on I made sure the 2 backpacking trips with my daughters were much easier. The GPS is drawn but very exact." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 14, 1992

"The second time I hiked Truchas Peak, Peak 12282, and Santa Barbara Peak was in 1971. I was 16 years old. This was with the older boys of Albuquerque’s Boy Scout Troop 166. Everything was the same as our 1970 trip. We started at Santa Barbara Campground and hiked midway up the east fork of the Santa Barbara river and spent the first night. We spent our second night in the top meadows, of the headwaters, of the east fork of the Santa Barbara river. The third day we hiked to the top of Santa Barbara Peak, then along Skyline Ridge passing Peak 12382, and set up camp at the Truchas Lakes. After setting up camp we hiked Truchas Peak. The trip varied at this point from our 1970 trip. We headed to Pecos Falls and spent the 4th night there. From Pecos Falls we hiked to the Pecos Baldy lakes for our 5th night. We then hiked to Horse Thief Meadow and spent two nights there. We then hiked to Stewart Lake for the 8th night and met up with the younger members of our troop. We hiked out of the Pecos Wilderness towards the little town of Cowels and met parents waiting with cars. (I remember I had the idea to carry out a small blue spruce tree in my backpack to try to plant in my yard. It did not ..." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 13, 1971

"1970 The first time that I hiked Truchas Peak was in 1970. I was in Boy Scout troop 166, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was 15 years old. There were about 12 boys and a couple of adult leaders. The adults dropped us off at Santa Barbara campground, then we hiked up the east fork of the Santa Barbara River to the end of the box canyon and the headwaters. The first night we spent about half way up the valley, in a large open area, near the location where the middle fork trail meets. The second night we stayed in forest, at the edge of beautiful meadows and little lakes at the headwaters of the East Santa Barbara River. The morning of the third day we had a tough hike up to Santa Barbara peak and Skyline Ridge. Hiking Skyline Ridge was one of the most beautiful hikes that I could imagine, all above the timberline with beautiful views in every direction. The third night we set up camp at Truchas Lake and we hiked up to Truchas Peak later that day. We had to scramble on all fours to get to the top. We continued along Skyline Ridge, crossing the ridge peak Trailriders Wall, to Pecos Baldy Lake where we spent the 4th night. From there we hiked to Horse Thief Meadow and spent two nights th..." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 12, 1970