Day 23: Sunrise on Mt. Taylor

Mileage: 22.5 miles (447.3-470.8)

We were up by 3:30am with the moon and stars still shining bright above us. We got packed up pretty quick, but even as I waited for just a few minutes for everyone to finish getting ready I managed to get cold. Maniac and I got a little head start as Restless dawdled some packing up his tent.

I was leading the group at first and it quickly became clear that Karma and I hiked faster than Maniac and Restless, who were both in their forties (...though seemed much younger). Maniac, an Atlanta native with a heavy southern drawl, has got a constant chatter going to no one in particular at all times of day and night. It seems just doesn't have thoughts that don't come out of his mouth, but luckily he's pretty hilarious. Yesterday, in the span of about 20 minutes he went from saying, "there's nothin y'all can do to get me on top of that there mountain!" to, "there isn't a thing in the world that'd please me more than being on top of Mt. Taylor." He's just funny that way.

Anyhow, the full moon lit our way as we hiked up towards the tallest peak in New Mexico. As we climbed the horizon was getting lighter and lighter so we were worried we might miss sunrise. Restless and Maniac were kinda goofing off, so Karma and I pushed hard towards the summit. It was pretty steep and we both definitely felt the altitude, but by 6am we made it to the summit at 11,304 ft with the sun still below the horizon.

We took every combination of picture at the summit and put all of our layers on to stay warm as we waited for the other two. Eventually they made it up in time to see the brilliant orange and yellow display over the vast horizon. It was really clear so we could see for miles in every direction, with the lights of Grants most prominent right beneath us. After we took some more group shots we hunkered down in a depression on the summit for some coffee and a snack. I got into my sleeping bag because I was getting quite cold, but it was great once I was in there.

We then headed down the ridge, which had a good mile or so of deep snow. Most of it was crusty so we stayed on top of it, but we had to be careful because we were post-holing if we stepped too hard (post-holing is busting through the snow with our feet, which makes walking very tiring).

We then headed up Mosca peak which had a fire lookout tower on top, where we hung out some more and snacked. We had flurries as we walked up which we all agreed was much better than rain. There was no lookout manning the tower but we enjoyed the views from the peak before making our long descent back to the official CDT (the summit of Taylor is actually an alternate route, but you'd be crazy to miss it!)

I got ahead of the group for awhile and decided to wait for them at American Spring, the first good water in more than 12 miles. I waited 30 mins and then an hour and then an hour and a half before I heard them hollering. I hollered back and told them to follow the red flags but apparently they didn't hear me because another 20 minutes passed and I didn't see them. Finally I just decided to pack up, still thankful I'd had a nap, was able to read some, do some tree identification and dry out my tent.

Down the trail I realized the must have just missed the spring because I saw their footprints in front of me on the jeep track. It was fine walking alone though giving me more time to admire the mix of aspen, Douglas fir, and Engleman Spruce, as well as the turkeys, woodpeckers, and other birds flitting about.

By the time I made it back to the CDT it had started to rain pretty hard and didn't really let up until I caught the guys an hour and a half later. The mud was caking on our boots and the walking was difficult. We had a brief respite with the rain but storms brewed all around us and we saw quite a few lightning strikes.

Right as we were about to make camp a deluge hit dumping tons of hail and rain on us as we tried to set up our tents. We all were soaked but our extra clothes stayed dry as did our sleeping bags so we were okay. The rain hasn't stopped. A lightning bolt just lit up the sky and the boom of thunder shook my tent. It looks like it might go all night.