Hiking Pecos Baldy and Truchas Lakes - Pecos Wilderness

► ABOUT THIS HIKE
This quick, 3-day, 2-night trip started from the Jack’s Creek Trailhead in the Pecos Wilderness. Squeezing a 2-night trip into a weekend requires pushing hard the first afternoon, but the Jack’s Creek trail passed through some beautiful aspen groves, held numerous small creek crossings, as well as the seeing the occasional cow that roams the Wilderness. I made camp near Pecos Baldy Lake. While many groups camped near the lake, a short walk up the trail provided numerous, more secluded spots. The changing clouds as sunset passed were a great sight before turning in for the night.
The second day took me even higher, nudging above 12,000 feet, as I hiked across the top of Trailrider’s Wall, eventually on to lower Trampas Lake. My initial plan for the day called for staying high for a while longer, but I heard the first crack of thunder almost immediately upon reaching the lake. I made my way a mile further along the Skyline trail before descending via the upper end of the Jack’s Creek Trail. Those first miles on Jack’s Creek were slow going, despite being downhill, as it was obvious that the trail didn’t get much traffic. The forest floor was grown over, which, while the wildflowers were beautiful, made trail finding difficult. There was also a significant amount of down trees in this area. Eventually, thunder turned to rain which turned to hail. I continued to descend, leading to the North Azul Trail and finally to Beattys Trail, which would follow the Pecos River. After clearing the “no-camping zone” along the Pecos, I started up Beattys Trail, deciding on a campsite along a cliff overlooking the Pecos. While the light was not epic at sunset, there was some subtle color in the clearing storm clouds that evening.
My camera didn’t come out on day 3 as that hike started at 1:30 am. The rodents came out not long after climbing into my hammock the evening before. I have never dealt with such mischievous rodents. I hang all my gear from my hammock suspension so there is nothing on the ground for them to mess with. For hours, critters climbed up the hammock straps and ran back and forth along my tarp ridgeline. Occasionally, I would turn on a light to scare them away, only to have them return. I climbed out of my shelter around 1 am to check on things to discover they had already chewed two holes in my backpack. I hadn’t been able to sleep much at this point due to the constant disturbances, and not wanting further damage to my gear, I decided to pack it up and hit the trail. Upon hoisting up my loaded pack, one of the shoulder straps immediately snapped, having been chewed nearly through. Fortunately, I had some paracord in my bag, and I fashioned a new strap. Adding insult to injury, it began to rain again 5 minutes after starting my hike. It turned out well, though, as the rainclouds eventually cleared up, leaving me an unobstructed via of the sky. I stopped a few times to watch the sky for the Perseid meteor shower. I’ve never seen so many objects lighting up the sky. It’s too bad I didn’t have my astrophotography lens with me. The rest of the hike along Beatty’s and to the trailhead was uneventful, and I reached the car about an hour before sunrise.
My next trip won't be for another month. I'll need to do some shopping for a new pack before then...
► ROUTES FOR THIS HIKE
Day 1: / strava
Day 2: / strava
Day 3: / strava
► GEAR FOR THIS HIKE
lighterpack.co...
► MUSIC
Music: The Long Dark by Scott Buckley | / scottbuckley
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Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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