Route: Latir Peaks Loop (NM)

Seven of the New Mexico 12,000 footers are located in the Latir Peak Wilderness, in the Sangre de Christo Range in northern New Mexico. These peaks get somewhat overshadowed by several Colorado 14ers less than 100 miles to the north, but they are still quite beautiful and rugged. This is an open course route to tag all seven peaks starting and ending at the Cabresto Lake trailhead, the most popular way of accessing this wilderness (included as a waypoint in the gps file).

The seven peaks are:

• Baldy Cabin Peak
• Bull Creak Peak
• Cabresto Peak
• Latir Peak (whose actual summit appears to be slightly north of what is shown on some maps)
• Peak 12,456
• Venado Peak
• Virsylvia Peak

The route starts out following a stream for a few miles. There are no water sources once you get up on the main ridgeline. There are very few places in New Mexico where you can travel this far above treeline.