Just got home a bit ago after one of the toughest climbs of my career - Dec. 23, 2007. After 12,400′ Lake Peak and 14,300′ Gray’s Peak, Atalaya at 9,127′ is gonna be a quick walk up, and go home, right ?? Sorry…….get complacent in the mountains and they’ll slap you down fast. At Lake Peak, altitude gain was about 2,100′ in 3 miles and it were a tough climb for an old fart. Gray’s Peak was about 3,000′ in 4 miles, but the 1st mile was fairly level, so about 1,000′ per mile - and it were a bitch. Atalaya starts at around 7,000′ and goes to 9100′ in 3 miles, but the 1st mile is fairly easy, soooo…….1,000 ft per mile and there was 4″ of snow on the ground at the bottom and over 1′ at altitude. Here’s Atalaya from a distance. Don’t look like much, do it ?? Hah ! ! !………..

The trail hits the ridge to the right of the summit about ½ way between the main peak and the smaller one to the right. That long ridge was a huge frustration. Endless. Scenery at 1st wasn’t much. For a long portion of the hike, the trail follows draws, or arroyos, and the view is limited…………

After about ½ or ¾ of a mile, the trail crosses a road and you finally get a view to the West. Remember Tetilla Peak that I climbed last October ?? That’s it in the upper left of this shot. St. John’s College is in the foreground………..

Not many people had been ahead of me, so it wasn’t packed down up higher and a good chunk of the trip was “2 steps forward and 1 step back.” Slippery, it was, and the loose snow pulls at your feet. The effort of lifting your feet thru even this much snow soon starts to pull at the big tendons that attach at the front of the pelvis……….

Higher up, more people had turned around, the snow was thicker and more work to climb thru, and the mountain continually steepened. Those big tendons were burning good by now, you bet…………

I didn’t take the tripod - memory again - so had to set the camera on a rock and it didn’t work too well, but here I is at the summit. Actually, there were about 5 summits, each higher than the last and I kept climbing and climbing and climbing and…………

Just in case you forgot how handsome I am, here’s a strong crop. The gaiters on my lower legs are to keep snow out of my boots. They work VERY well, and I’m very glad I thought to wear them. When I got home the lower parts of the gaiters were soaked, but my feet were dry. In the summer, I wear the gaiters to keep seeds and pebbles out of my socks and boots………..

Exploring a bit while up there finally let me find a view thru the brush and trees to the North East to Lake Peak, (to the right of that pesky tree and just below the branch of the one to the right) that I climbed last July………..

Back around to begin my descent, the view to the South showed a good view of the Sandia Mountains that hide Albu-Quirky, NM on the right edge of the far mountains. A close look in the center of this picture shows the darker outline of the Ortiz Mountains, just south of Madrid, (MAD-rid) NM. It’s already Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 as I finally sit down to write this, and I scouted the highest point of the Ortiz Mts - Placer Peak - last weekend, with the idea of climbing it tomorrow, weather permitting………….

I hate to admit it, but at this point I was about at the end of my rope and still had to get back down. It was a nightmare. That snow drags at your feet, kept slipping and hadta catch myself each time, my legs hurt…….mercy. I guess I’m a tough ol’ coot, tho’…….if cannibals ever get hold of me, they’re gonna wish they’d stuck with bull hide to chew on. Here’s one quick look to the North West, looking across Santa Fe, 2,000 ft below, to Chicoma Peak (that I climbed twice last November) with its’ distinctive triangle. Beautiful………..

This was probably the greatest scenery hike of them all so far. Not much down lower, but the higher I climbed, the more amazing the view became. Tough hike, but very worth it. I did learn respect this day. Lar.

--
Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
Building Kolb Mk III
"Vamoose"
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: January 25th, 2008 under 07-12-23 Atalaya Summit, 08 New Mexico.
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