"This may have been the toughest slope I have ever done, due to the steepness, looseness, and sharpness (of all the lechuguilla). I was fatigued, and it was pretty warm, but this may have been the toughest. " — ZachTeich • May 1, 2024

"My buddy Mark had been up here before, and he wanted to climb this mountain again. Fortunately he has a capable vehicle, but it still took awhile to make it to the trailhead, and we didn't start until around 8:45 am. The forecast highs for the river and desert were around 101, so we carried plenty of water and took our time. The chute wasn't too bad going up, but I still used a rope to assist me a little on the way down. The upper slopes and the ridge were awesome. We definitely struggled with the heat, and it took a lot longer than it probably would have in cool weather. The summit log was gone. Mark searched awhile for it but didn't find anything. We finished up around 4:20 pm in the hottest part of the day, but we made it, and I was glad to be able to stand on top of this peak. " — ZachTeich • Apr 30, 2024

"I had been planning for years to see the total eclipse; April 8, 2024. One year ago, I reserved a home in Fredericksburg, Texas, treating my son Garret, his wife, her father, and my 4 grandkids. We came in April 1st and left April 9th. I wanted a high elevation location to see the eclipse so I chose Cross Mountain on the outskirts of Fredericksburg. To pick up my weekly 3 cardio exercises I jogged from our house to Cross Mountain 3 times, April 3rd, 5th, and the day of the eclipse April 8th. I jogged, rather than hiked, 3 times because Cross Mountain is not much of a mountain by New Mexico standards. I was surprised that it was listed on the 3 websites that I log peaks. It is listed not because of size, but because it has a name. I had 6.3K, 5.6K and 5.3K runs. (3.9, 3.5, and 3.3 miles.) The elevation gain was about 250 feet. The day of eclipse was absolutely amazing! I had been praying that God would give a little glimpse of the eclipse because it appeared it would be totally cloudy. It felt like God opened the clouds just for me at the perfect time, and all of us on Cross Mountain were equally blessed. (See my YouTube video of the event.) I was with my son Garret, and 7-year-old ..." — Phil-Robinson • Apr 5, 2024

"Found out that the preserve was open to hiking this weekend so hopped over. Started out as as a dreary, socked in morning, but the clouds burned off by the time we reached the summit." — wacbravo • Mar 15, 2024

"Found out that the preserve was open to hiking this weekend so hopped over. Started out as as a dreary, socked in morning, but the clouds burned off by the time we reached the summit." — wacbravo • Mar 15, 2024