"I left my home at 5:30 AM, Friday July 17, 2020, and headed towards the Pecos Wilderness in northern New Mexico for a peakbagging adventure. I went with my friend Ravinder. We both go to Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He has never been peakbagging nor backpacking. We arrived at Jack’s Creek Trailhead and were hiking by 7:50 AM. The temperature was pleasant. It was a partly cloudy morning. I do not have very many more peaks that I am interested in hiking, so I have not been doing the amount of peaks that I have done in previous years, but have been doing a little bit of mountain running each week to stay in shape. We planned on camping at Pecos Baldy Lake. The last time I camped there was with my son Garret in June of 2010. It felt good to be backpacking. I was carrying 34 pounds. The starting elevation was 8741 feet. It was a beautiful hike through meadows, forests and wildflowers. We saw deer, birds and butterflies. There as a burned out patch from a forest fire that was not there when I hiked with Garret. The hardest part of the 3 day hike for me was the last 2 miles just before we got into camp. We arrived after hiking 8.5 miles. It took us 5 hours and 40 minutes with a few litt..." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 18, 2020

"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 there...." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 14, 1970