Nov 05, 2017 — After a few days of debating if I wanted to hike at 12,000 feet in November, I casually told myself I'd do the first peak, Lake Peak. I followed the Winsor Trail up the the Wilderness boundary. From here, a use trail follows the barbed wire fence (really?) for a while, leading to the ridge up toward Lake Peak. The weather was getting windy and foggy. It was beautiful, but not great for peak bagging. Deception Peak was first, named so I assume because it's a sub-peak of Lake Peak. An easy class 2 downclimb along the ridge leads to Lake Peak. I would have been more inclined to scramble the ridge if it wasn't covered in frost. The snow and fog were both beautiful, and the combination of summiting Lake Peak, seeing Santa Fe Baldy in the distance, and my general feeling of wanting to summit things kept me moving. From Lake Peak, the trail leads along the ridge to Penitente Peak before an incredible open grassy field slopes down into the forest.
Eventually, the trail leaves the woods and meets with the Santa Fe Baldy Trail, which gets progressively more steep until the summit, which overlooks Lake Katherine. I lucked out with the weather. Incredible clouds and lighting, frosty ground, and gusts of wind that kept me on my toes. The route from the junction with the Sante Fe Baldy Trail takes the Winsor Trail all the way back to the trailhead.
Please consider helping me out if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all site fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing these trip reports is unpaid. You can also hire me as a web developer. I really appreciate it!
If you find my site helpful, please help me replace my many broken cameras, fund my website fees (hosting, APIs, security), or just support my countless hours of work. I pay for all expenses myself, and all trip reports I post are unpaid and unsponsored, so any support is really appreciated!
If using PayPal, please select their option for "Sending to a friend" so they don't take out fees, thank you.
