Serpent Lake & Jicarita Peak Backpack and Climb
Pecos Wilderness,
Northern New Mexico
August 17-19,
2007
Trip Leader:
Bill Priedhorsky
Author:
Jan Studebaker
Trip
Participants: Rose O'Brien, Dennis Brandt, Karen Grace, Jan
Studebaker, Bill Priedhorsky
Photo Gallery:
(by Jan Studebaker and Rose O'Brien); click
here
Trail Guide: "Hiking New Mexico" by
Laurence Parent, 'Serpent Lake' -
topo map
Finding the Trail Head: Serpent
Lake can be accessed via NM Highway 518 between Tres Ritos, NM and
Holman,NM. Take Forest Trail 161 to the Alamitos Trailhead from
Highway 518. The turnoff for 161 is 7.9 miles from the Holman, NM
post office, and 5.8 miles from the Tres Ritos Lodge and Cabins.
This road is in very good condition, the ruts and washouts are
usually plowed and it is maintained very nicely. Take this road
until it dead-ends at a turn-around. Park near this
turn-around, but please park so that other users can still utilize
the turn-around (during hunting season lots of horseback riders need
to turn their trailers around here). The Alamitos Trailhead is just
across the stream and about 1/4 mile down the gravel road;
road map.
About 3.5 miles up
the Alamitos Trailhead a spur trail to the right leads to Serpent
Lake. After that, the trail climbs steeply up Jicarita Peak Ridge
for another mile. The Jicarita Peak Ridge is barren and exposed and
should be avoided during bad weather.
Trip Description: Serpent Lake
is an 'off the beaten path' alpine lake located in the Pecos
Wilderness of the Santa Fe National Forest of Northern New Mexico. This small but gorgeous
lake is located just below an unnamed peak that sores to almost
13,000 feet, and is in easy walking distance of Jicarita Peak which
is slightly higher. Our goal for the weekend was simple: climb
both peaks, and have a great time around camp.....we definitely
succeeded in both!
Karen, Jan, Bill,
and Dennis pose for Rose near the top of "unnamed'' peak
The hike in was an
easy three miles with about 1000' of elevation gain to the Serpent
Lake spur trail junction, where we descended to an unusually lush
valley and found two small lakes, and a group of a dozen or so
Armand Hammer United World College students from nearby Las Vegas,
NM, each with a different nationality. After a brief but
pleasant talk they suggested an area that they had spotted that
sounded like it would make a nice camp spot for our five happy
campers. No other people were in the basin for the rest of the
trip.
Our camp was in the
trees across the lake from the kids, so we could barely hear their
youthful exuberance that evening....they left the next morning,
leaving us alone in this near pristine basin. After we had set
up camp we explored the area around the lakes, and viewed the
mountain tops above us. Dennis, Karen and Jan decided to cross
a large bog near the lake and bushwhack to the top of "unnamed"
peak, while Rose and Bill looked for fish and took a bath in the
chilly but crystal clear Serpent Lake.
An apparent sky
Serpent hovers over "unnamed" peak and Serpent Lake
The climbers
realized that they might not make the top of "unnamed" that evening
because of a light drizzle that brought along with it a bit of
thunder and lightning; we managed to get very close to our goal
before fear drove us down. The views from near the top were
spectacular in that a fog had encased all the mountains in a deep
haze of moisture that is seldom seen in New Mexico. We
discovered a small stream near the top that looked like we could
drink from it without purification....also a bit unusual in New
Mexico mountains.
That evening we sat
around a roaring fire, had a fine warm meal, and happily told lies
about the days adventures and those of the past. Both of our
dinners were flavored by a large quantity of local mushrooms that
Dennis had found on our hikes, and meticulously prepared for us.
Our next morning
marked our first and only full hiking day, so we ate quickly and got
out of camp in time to have a very full and rewarding day of hiking
and climbing. We decided to take the trails this time; our
hike took us past an amazing display of alpine flowers that captured
everyone's attention and lead to dozens of gorgeous photos. On
the way up we discovered another unusual feature of these
mountains....a small pool near the top. Later, on the way back
from our days adventures, Bill tried to convince us to take a dip
with him in the recently discovered pool, but the cold wind
convinced us against this otherwise beautiful notion.
Dennis shows off on
a crumbing outcrop with delightful exposure
We were constantly
on the look out for the Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep who obviously
lived here, but alas, we saw only scat and miles of their carefully
formed trails. We did manage to cross the very long and mostly
flat top of unnamed mountain, with it's assume views, across the
Santa Barbara Divide, of my favorite
New Mexico mountains....the rugged Truchas Peaks, and also Trampas
Peak. This long
traverse brought us to a view of our second goal for the
day....Jicarita Peak. We had to drop about 500' before we
started up Jicarita, but it was well worth the slog, as Jicarita was
a fine climb which had several rock shelters on top that shielded us from the
cold wind, allowing us to have a very relaxing lunch together, with
views of the valley below.
The down climb and hike back to
camp was quick and relatively quiet, as we were feeling satisfied
and ready to sit for a while around a warm fire, having a great
mushroom enhanced meal, and thinking about our future adventures.
More
photos from our Gallery are available
here
