WHEELER PEAK
13,161 ft.
October 1, 2003
By Tim Briese
For several years I wanted to take a trip south to New Mexico to climb Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in that state. Because of the distance to the peak from my home in Colorado Springs, I always assumed that an overnight trip would be necessary to accomplish this adventure. My busy schedule made it difficult to arrange an overnighter, though, so after carefully studying the numbers I decided to try it on a long day outing.
There are two standard routes for climbing Wheeler Peak. One is long and gradual, about fourteen miles in roundtrip length, while the other is short and steep, and only about six miles long. I preferred to take the more expedient shorter route. A few days before the climb I called ahead to the Carson National Forest office in Taos to inquire about the route and was told that there was no snow on the mountain yet to impede my progress, and also that use of the shorter route was discouraged because of erosion concerns. I decided that I would take the shorter route anyway, but try to tread lightly.
I left home at 4 a.m. with my lab Jorie and headed down I-25 to Walsenburg, then drove over La Veta Pass on Highway 160 past the Blanca massif and went south through San Luis into New Mexico toward Taos. It was a clear morning but conditions were rather hazy in the Rio Grande River Valley. Just before reaching Taos I turned off the highway and followed a paved road eastward into the mountains up to the Taos Ski Area. I found my way to Twining Road and followed signs that led me toward the Williams Lake Trailhead. The nice gravel road climbed steeply uphill to the south, and after a mile I turned left onto Zaps Road and followed it an additional mile to the hiker parking lot for the Williams Lake Trail. There was only one other vehicle parked in the spacious lot. I pulled in at 8:20, and noted on my odometer that I had driven 249 miles from home, the furthest distance I had ever gone to climb a mountain on a day outing. I was aided by good, fast roads all the way, except for the last 30 miles or so near Taos.
At 8:30 I hit the trail on this clear, frosty morning. I noticed brilliant stands of golden aspens gracing the mountainsides above on each side of the valley. I initially followed an old road through the upper part of the ski area, past a ski lift and the Bavarian Restaurant, and after a half mile reached the real trailhead for Williams Lake. A sign said it was two miles to the lake, but it turned out to be less than a mile and a half, based on my GPS readings. I clipped up the fine trail through the woods, which climbs 800 feet up to Williams Lake, where I arrived at ten minutes past nine. Wheeler Peak towered above to the east, and I sat on a rock and took a 15 minute break while I studied my route up the steep slopes above.
The route climbs steeply 2000 feet in a mile from the 11,000 foot lake up to the ridge just north of Wheeler’s summit. I followed a trail north of the lake that headed steeply uphill into the woods. Presently I climbed out of the trees at timberline and climbed grass and rock-covered slopes above. I like direct routes like this one that are short and steep, at least when the footing is reasonable, as it was on most of this climb. I set a slow, steady pace that I was aerobically comfortable with and hardly stopped all the way up. The terrain became especially steep near the top but I found good footing on grass that was adjacent to loose scree slopes. I was pleasantly surprised that it took me only 65 minutes to climb from the lake up to the 13,000 foot saddle between Wheeler and Mt. Walter (13,133') just to the north. A chilly wind blew from the west so I stopped a moment to put my wind coat on before proceeding south a quarter mile along the crest of the easy ridge to the summit.
I arrived on top at 10:40, for an ascent time of 2:10 from the trailhead. It was clear and chilly, with a temperature of 40 degrees. No one else was there. I enjoyed nice views of Old Mike Peak (13,113') along the ridge to the southeast, Williams Lake and the Taos Ski Area far below to the west, and a pleasant basin below to the east. Wheeler Peak lies at the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo Range, and I could look north along the crest of the range to the distant summits of the Spanish Peaks, Culebra, and Blanca in Colorado.
I studied a plaque honoring George Wheeler, an early explorer whom the peak was named after. Then I turned my attention to a capped steel pipe, about six inches in diameter, which was mortared into a stone and held the summit register. Someone had exuberantly over-tightened the metal cap, and I was barely able to pound it loose with a rock. The register revealed that Wheeler is a very popular peak. It had seen a few hundred visitors during September and about 70 during the previous week alone.
After 30 minutes another man arrived on the summit, a financial planner from Phoenix who was staying at his second home in Taos for a vacation. After visiting with him for a while I left the summit at 11:15 and hiked briskly down. I thoughtlessly slid down on scree on the steep slope a short distance before remembering my self-pledge to be environmentally friendly. I met three men from Utah coming up the slope, and they told me they were traveling around climbing state highpoints, having done Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma the day before! A little further down I met a girl coming up with her dog. Then the climber from Phoenix overtook me, practically running down the steep slope.
I reached Williams Lake at noon, for a fast 45 minute descent from the summit. I was surprised to see 15 or 20 people at the lake now. Several of them appeared to be members of a women’s hiking group. The lake was very beautiful shimmering in the autumn sunlight in this mountain-ringed valley. I could see why it is a popular destination. I talked for a few minutes with a couple from Indiana who were contemplating a climb to Wheeler’s summit.
After a 20 minute break I left the lake and headed down the trail. The trail was very busy now, for I met a couple of dozen hikers coming up, nearly all of whom appeared to be casual hikers bound for the scenic lake. I clipped down the trail and arrived back at the parking lot at 1 p.m. There were now about 20 vehicles crowded into the parking lot, even though this was a weekday. I can only imagine how busy this place might be on a summer weekend!
The climb turned out to be easier than I expected. The six mile hike entailed about 3000 feet of elevation gain and took only four and a half hours, including several nice breaks. I generally clipped along at a rapid pace, though, out of sheer enthusiasm about the climb.
Clouds were moving in from an approaching front as I headed down the road toward home. I noted with dismay the sad poverty that is evident in northern New Mexico. After crossing the border into Colorado I stopped for a tasty enchilada lunch at Emma’s Restaurant in San Luis. I arrived back home a little before 6 p.m., in time to join my family for dinner that evening. I could hardly believe that I had driven nearly 500 miles and climbed the highpoint in another state that day. What a memorable adventure!
