Finishing the Four Corners State High Points | Friday & Saturday, September 3-4, 2021
After climbing Humphreys Peak on Thursday, and then spending this morning on Mount Taylor near Grants, it was now finally time to finish off the Four Corner state high points with Wheeler Peak in New Mexico. Following my short visit to the La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs near Santa Fe this afternoon, I continued north to Taos and then headed up to the trailhead in the Taos Ski Valley. I was hoping to find a place to spend the night along the way, but the Taos Ski Valley was not really my kind of place to visit and camping options were very limited. Luckily, just before leaving home I had thrown my backpacking gear into the Jeep, just in case, so I thought it would probably be a better idea to just backpack up to Williams Lake in the late afternoon and then hike to the summit of Wheeler Peak first thing in the morning. The weather forecast for the rest of the evening was looking good, so that’s what I decided to do. The hike up to Williams Lake is not very long, just under 2 miles with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, so it didn’t take me long to reach the lake, but like the other hikes I had done earlier in the day, it was still very humid out.
Starting up the Williams Lake Trail from the Taos Ski Valley.
Most of the trail was in the trees until just before reaching Williams Lake.
Entering the Wheeler Peak Wilderness.
The views from the trail start opening up a bit shortly before reaching the junction with the Wheeler Peak Trail.
Wheeler Summit, to the left. Williams Lake, straight ahead.
I found a place to camp not far from the junction and then spent the rest of the evening wandering around Williams Lake.
Looking up the start of the Wheeler Peak Trail, but this trail would have to wait until early the next morning.
Williams Lake is located in a nice little cirque below Wheeler Peak and Lake Fork Peak.
There were a couple day hikers at the lake when I first arrived, but they all left well before sunset and I had the place to myself for the rest of the evening.
It was a little breezy this evening, which was good because when the wind wasn’t blowing the mosquitoes were pretty bad.
Wheeler Peak above Williams Lake.
Williams Lake, Elevation 11,040
Wheeler Peak & Williams Lake shortly before sunset.
Williams Lake Reflection
Wheeler Peak Reflection
Once the sun had gone down and the color on the mountains was gone, I headed back to my tent and went right to bed since I would be getting an early start on Saturday morning.
My alarm went off at 4:30am and I was well rested and ready to go. I was on the trail before 5:00am and it was a bit chilly out, but also still humid, as I walked under a canopy of bright stars with my headlamp leading the way. I made it above treeline before sunrise, so I was able to watch the colors in the sky change as I climbed up to the top of the ridge.
Morning in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Lake Fork Peak & Magenta Clouds
The first light of the day strikes the top of Lake Fork Peak.
Over The Ridge
Once I reached the saddle, I turned right and followed the trail up the ridge toward the summit.
Trail To The Summit
A view from the summit of Wheeler Peak, the highest peak in New Mexico, and the final state high point that I care about! Since I had gotten an early start, I had the summit all to myself again.
The view from the top was spectacular this morning!
After I spent a while on the summit, I started hiking down the other side so I could also visit Simpson Peak and Old Mike Peak.
Descending down the south ridge of Wheeler Peak.
I eventually caught up with the Lost Lake Trail near the saddle.
Looking back to Wheeler Peak from the south.
Shortly after crossing the saddle I came across this sign in the middle of the trail. All the maps I have looked at show that the Taos Pueblo property doesn’t begin until Simpson Peak, but I decided to stop at the sign and turned around here.
I followed the Lost Lake Trail on the way back so I wouldn’t have to climb all the way over Wheeler Peak again. There were actually light flurries of snow from the dark cloud on the left as I hiked back.
On the other side of Wheeler Peak the trail follows the ridge over the summit of Mount Walter, which was my next destination.
I followed the trail to the summit of Mount Walter.
Mount Walter Summit
I returned to the saddle and then started descending the Wheeler Peak Trail. This is when I started running into other hikers who were on their way up.
Looking down to Williams Lake from the trail. It looks so small from up here.
I passed quite a few people coming up the trail as I was on my way down, which wasn’t really surprising since it’s a popular trail and the Saturday of a holiday weekend, so I’m glad I got an early start and had the summit to myself for a while. When I reached the junction with the Williams Lake Trail I packed up my gear and then finished the hike back down to the trailhead, which was overflowing with vehicles this morning! I drove down from the Taos Ski Valley and then headed north into Colorado to continue my loop back home.
Headed back down the Williams Lake Trail to the Taos Ski Valley.
Loved it! Makes me want to head out today! Thank you!
I’m a bit confused about one thing. It says at the beginning “Four Corners State High Points,” and then mentions “spending this morning on Mount Taylor near Grants” before moving on to Wheeler Peak. Wheeler Peak is the highest point in New Mexico, but Mount Taylor near Grants is also in New Mexico — it’s not the highest point of another state.
The overall goal of this trip was to complete the remaining high points of the Four Corners states that I had not hiked yet (Humphreys and Wheeler), but along the way I also made some other stops, including Mount Taylor. Mount Taylor is only mentioned at the beginning of this trip report because that’s where I came from before heading to Wheeler Peak. It has nothing to do with being a high point of the Four Corner states.