Week 6 : Wheeler Peak- Highest Point in NM!!!

Wheeler Peak via Williams Lake Trail
Distance Hiked: 6.48 mi
Elevation: 9,700 ft - 13,161 ft
Elevation Gain: 3,461 ft
Distance This Season: 27.45 mi
Elevation Gain This Season: 6,986 ft

Wheeler Peak is hands down the hardest hike I have ever attempted. It is the highest point in New Mexico, towering at a breath-taking 13,161 feet. There is a "mellow" route you can take from the other side of the Taos ski area that slowly climbs the 3,000ft over a nice 8 mile long trail... but that's not the one we took -SIGH- The Williams Lake Trail climbs the first 1,000 feet over 2.3 miles and then turns into a steep Class 2 trail, shooting straight up to Wheeler Peak over the distance of one mile!

The morning started off pretty badly. The trailhead was at around 10,000 feet of elevation and I started out having major problems catching my breath. Having experienced serious altitude problems in the past, after about a mile of the "easy" trail, I told our group I would have to turn back.
Our hike leader, Glen, had allowed my boyfriend, Nate, to come along on the hike since I had anticipated this situation and didn't want the whole group to have to turn back. We watched the group go forward and took a break before heading back.
However, after several minutes, my breathing became much easier as I acclimated to the altitude. I felt sad about missing out on the hike and we decided to finish the hike to the lake. We were very glad we did when we saw how beautiful it was in the morning light. Feeling curious, we decided to look for the trail to the peak to see how intimidating it was.

It looked pretty steep, but we knew it was only a mile. If we just took it slow, how hard could it be?

I actually can't remember how many times I thought "It can't get any steeper than this" or "We must have been at least four miles by now". Long story short: it was superhard.
When we finally got to the peak, we found the rest of the hiking team with the most surprised/happy/confused looks on their faces. We celebrated and exchanged stories... and then we heard a rumble in the distance.

The storm clouds were moving in and we were pretty far away from the treeline. We scurried as quickly and safely as we could down the steep slippery mountain. It was extremely difficult trying to fight gravity with our weakened leg muscles but it kept us moving at a quick pace.

The highlight of coming down the mountain was a huge snowdrift off to the right of the trail. Eager to give our aching muscles a break, and not caring about wet pants we slid down several stories of snow on our bums.

We managed to finally make it down the mountain and back down the Williams Lake trail well before the rain came in. I'm proud to report that even though I fell many, many times coming down, I have no injuries and no blisters. Just really really really sore muscles.

I'm glad I got stubborn and eventually made it up that crazy mountain and I'm looking forward to our future hikes. After that one I'm pretty sure I can hike up anything this state has to offer. Slowly, yet surely...
If you haven't already, visit my LLS page at http://pages.hikefordiscovery.org/nm/rockymt08/mfriesen The donation total as of today is over $1300! Thanks to everyone who has already contributed to LLS! We're doing great! To see all the photos from the hike, View My Album.