24.12 Wheeler Peak, stunning part of the new state of Mexico or is it the old state of New Mexico?
The hiking on this trip, together with the sights, has been nothing short of superb. Southern Utah is a gem, South-West Colorado is beautiful and along comes New Mexico which has to at least try to make up a good third place. (Nevada has rugged beauty, too.) We set off for Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico at 13,161 feet above sea-level, knowing not what to expect. The elevation gain is over 3,000 feet, the distance about nine miles but the real tough part: The entire trail was covered in snow and in places, ice. This made it difficult, slow-going and we estimate more draining by a substantial percentage . (We love the beauty snow creates but dislike walking on/in it.) Having mentioned that, it was an exceptional experience, quite extraordinary. In fact, on our visit to Seefeld Spitze in Austria a couple of years back, we had a similar type of adventure. An incredible effort from Jenni, an incredible position. (We're heading for Texas eventually where t...