After writing the 2 story pages about the “Mystery Mountain,” I remained fascinated, so did more research on it, and found that there’s an established trail winding from the east side around to the north side of the peak. We know now that this is Cabezon Peak, about 30 miles northwest of Bernalillo, NM. A salesman to the hotel who has become a good friend told me he’d climbed it some years ago, that it wasn’t too bad, and he’s seen cattle almost to the summit. “Hmmm………..must be a good trail, so let’s have at it,” I thought.

I retired on May 29, and prepared for an extended vacation to Canada over the next month or so. This seemed like a good way to start that trip, so when I left Santa Fe on Sunday, July 13, I drove the 80 miles to the base of Cabezon Peak in the Diesel Dodge, and towing my 16 foot boat, the “Dustbuster.” Remember the dry wash of the Rio Puerco ?? Ain’t so dry now, ’cause of all the thunderstorms deluging the country……………………

High on the shoulder of the mountain, I parked the truck and boat and set up camp. The 9′10″ Lance camper is self-contained……………

After a light dinner, I climbed higher onto the shoulder of the mountain, and looked back to the southwest. Beautiful………………..

Turns out my numbers guess-timates were quite accurate. The mountain is 1500 feet high, I camped about 200 feet up, and the actual peak is 700 feet high, and solid volcanic lava. Maybe I should say cracked and broken lava. On Monday morning, after a leisurely breakfast, I started up the shoulder of the mountain……………..

About 600 ft higher, less than an hour later, and a mile or 2 farther up, there was a large plateau, and I found the big rock “arrow” that someone had built to point the way to the beginning of the climb……………..

I think I’ve said before how much I appreciate the efforts of the people who build the cairns showing the way on some trails. They are a great benefit to people un-familiar with the area. Preparing for the effort, I shucked my new pack to check things out and make sure all was well. I’d accumulated an awkward conglomeration of fanny pack, Camelback pack, various hooks, cups, straps, ties, and so on to hold all my gear and it was getting very uncomfortable and messy keeping things sorted out. Sangre de Cristo Mountain Sports in Santa Fe has an attractive young lady on staff who hikes a lot herself, and really knows her stock…..and she’s very patient. I finally wound up with an “Osprey” brand pack, model “Kestrel 32.” It’s light, rugged, roomy, and very high quality. No sticking zippers or frayed edges on this one. It took 2 days of fooling around to get it set up to hold everything securely, yet available, and several hikes now have shown it to be very good. It was a blessing on this climb………………

This holds everything snug and solid to my back, yet flexes easily and doesn’t restrict movement. I really appreciate those attributes, especially after today.

OK, time now to look up the mountain to the 1st pitch………and it’s a doozy - this mountain does NOT fool around. I’m very sure that no cow ever spawned on this planet ever climbed higher than we are right now…………………

Well warmed up by the hike up to this point, I scrambled on up this 1st problem to the notch at high center. Steep, but easy. Lots of hand and footholds……..speaking of which, the site I’d researched this on said something about “a couple of class 3 scrambles.” Since I’d taught rock climbing for a summer in 1975, and am familiar with the terminology, I took this to mean moderately difficult problems like we see above. Yah, right ! ! !

The actual notch is a straight up climb of about 12 feet, with very poor handholds that slope outwards. Another good warmup, and I figured it was going to be fun figuring out foot placement on the way back down. It’s always easier to go up than come back down. OK, well, I’m up here now, might as well keep going, eh ??…………………

Soon, I looked back to the southeast and realized I’d already come quite a way. I’m in good shape now, and was breathing easily and nicely warmed up………….sweating pretty good warmed up……………….

Mountain wasn’t done with me yet. The trail climbs steeply and curls around toward the north. After a bit, problem #2 appeared. This is a little tougher, but looked do-able. Common sense weakly told me to turn around. Adrenaline and macho said “go for it.” I went. This one is probably about 15 feet or so straight up. Hand and foot holds were poor enuf to make me start feeling very un-easy about the descent and I was starting to wonder just what I was doing here. Pure stub-Bourne-ness kept me going…………….

The web site had said to watch for a small Juniper that the trail went to, then slightly, then steeply above. Going past it below was a real No-No. I went past it and up, then looked back. Man, we really getting some altitude here. The rock looks wet, but isn’t. Just glossy………………..

Not too far above this, and feeling more un-easy all the time, I came to the final “class 3 scramble” pitch. Physically, I felt great…….breathing deep, but easily, legs solid and strong, pulse steady and moderate, then I looked up. Oh Shit. Looks like good hand and footholds, but it’s an overhang and this particular portion of the climb is vertical. Finally…..FINally…….common sense took over and I said, “Nope, I ain’t doing it.” One small slip or loose rock here would be certain suicide……………..

I felt sick. You can see the top of the mountain……… or so I thought. Unwilling to just give up, and knowing it was insane to try to go on, I rested a bit, and took a look around. What ?? There’s a cairn over there, and dirt showing where people have been climbing. Bonehead Bourne had hiked right past the final pitch. Yah, that’s the trail, sports fans……………….

It looks bad, but was actually fairly easy and I was up in just a few seconds. Here’s the break onto the summit. Right at the bottom edge of this picture, just to the left of center, do you see the horizontal crack in the rock ?? You can see it just above center in the picture above, too. Keep that crack in mind for the descent……………….

I wasn’t out of trouble yet, by a bit. This was loose dirt over rock, and very treacherous. No way I was quitting now, and I went up this very quickly……….but my tummy was churning a bit………..How the h— are you gonna get down from here, you ancient idiot, I was telling myself ?? As I approached the top of the dome, I thought I could see……..a huge cairn…….?? Boy, is it ever. Someone went to a huge amount of work here…………….

Big Lar on the summit. Man, what a feeling. Felt like I could float around up here…………….

The cairn is U-shaped and there’s an ammunition box there with a Geo-Cache sign-in inside it. I didn’t find this with my GPS, but I figured I’d earned the right to sign it anyway……….so I did.

Then, a short walk to the south, keeping in mind the extreme dome shape of the summit, I got to the point - barely - where I could see the truck, camper and boat far below. A slip here would be very bad……………..

Then, to the northwest side of the peak, and a look back on the Rio Puerco Road that I’d come in on………………

During the climb and my time on the summit, the clouds had steadily darkened and thickened, and now it started to spatter a little rain. No thunder yet, but it was only a matter of time. I nearly freaked out……..quickly swung back into the pack and headed for the trail. In the rain, a descent would be impossible and I’d have to wait it out on the summit till the rock dried. One day ?? Two ?? No way, so away I went, nearly running. As I approached the edge, it looked like it just continued to round on out, and what could I hold onto ?? Man, this was ugly - the trail is right in the center, below the cairn, to the left of that rock, and that ledge from 5 pictures ago is over that edge……………

First foothold. Hmmm………..went down to the big rock on the far right, eased a foot over to the center rock, swung over and twisted, to put that big left hoof into that crack in the rock. Those bushes and pile of rocks at far left are 700 feet below. You can believe I was very careful of my grip and balance when I took this shot……………..

One and one-half hours later I was sitting in the camper, soaked with sweat, and the fronts of my thighs burning from the tremendous pressure of the descent. Make sure of the handholds and 1 foothold…..as sure as possible, anyway, then slow-w-w-w-ly bend the secure leg, letting myself down while feeling for a toe-hold with the other foot……..then repeat, and repeat, and repeat…………

When driving back to the highway, I was along side the Rio Puerco, and wondered if I could see the cairn from there. After all, I could see the road from the cairn. Here’s the mountain……………

………..and, strongly cropped, there’s the cairn. Cool……………..

What a day ! ! ! The climb took 4 hours, start to finish. 9:30 AM till 1:30 PM. Good workout, too.

I’m very glad I did this, and it’s a very satisfying feeling, but I promise, I will NOT put myself in a like position again. I’ll be 66 years old in a few months……..too old for this foolish-ness. Lar.

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Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: August 6th, 2008 under 08 Vacation, 08-7-14 Mystery Mountain Climbed.
Comments: 2