Old Mike Peak, 13108.2 ft (3995 m)

 Summited Old Mike Peak last Monday (the 27th) after leaving the Williams Lake Trailhead at 6:05 a.m. By 9:00 a.m. I was on the summit, having passed Wheeler Peak and Simpson Peak along the way. My main reason for climbing Old Mike was to finally get a view of Blue Lake, which holds a central place in the spirituality and origin story of the Taos Pueblo.

After leaving Wheeler Peak behind, I was walking the ridge between Simpson and Old Mike Peak when I encountered a bighorn ewe and her little one. They did not seem particularly alarmed, so I had time to pull out my camera and take a few shots. Below is the least bad one.

On the return, I summited both Simpson Peak and Wheeler Peak (though not for the first time). After descending from Wheeler, I decided to add Mount Walter to the day, then continued to the unnamed peak beside it to get a few shots of Horseshoe Lake.

In the end, it turned into a four-peak day with about 4,000 feet of elevation gain and 11 miles of hiking, all under nearly perfect conditions. At this time of year, it's important to be off the high peaks by around noon, as the Southwest monsoon often brings rapidly developing thunderstorms and unstable weather almost every afternoon.

Loki on the summit of Old Mike Peak,

View down frm Old Mike Peak. This slope is north facing, so should be pretty good skiing

Here we interrupted some family time.

This is why I wanted to get on top of Old Mike Peak, to see Blue Lake. This is the lake that 
feeds the stream that runs through the Taos Pueblo village.

This is the aptly named Horseshoe Lake.

Reflection of Lake Fork Peak in Williams Lake.