Acclimation Day!

Wow! My frirst hike above 10,000 feet since Mount Lassen in July. I’ve spent the last two months doing mostly State High Points on the east coast with max elevations being around 6,000 feet and the last 4 weeks with elevations near sea level. So, today was definitely a day to acclimate to the higher elevations.

Mount Taylor stands at 11,301 feet above sea level. My plan today was to just take it slow and get to the summit. And slow I was! I recorded a total of 6.53 miles for this hike with 2,105 feet of elevation gain. Not too bad. Mile 3 had the largest elevation gain at 750 feet. Not a lot of hikers on trail. I only saw one solo hiker who started just before I did and two pairs of hikers as I was descending.

The trail is very easy to follow and has zero blowdowns or obstacles to negotiate. The weather today was perfect! Maybe 55 degrees when I began at 9,280 feet. And I don’t think it got much cooler than that on my ascent to the summit. It did get a little windy at times. Maybe 15 or 20 mile an hour winds.

Just another great day on trail!