Mount Taylor 11,301' - Cibola County Highpoint 05/11/00

50 Hikes in New Mexico had inspired Leah and I to hike Mount Taylor as part of our summer training campaign to conquer Wheeler Peak. Fires later in the season proved to be an unsurmountable obstacle on this quest, but we had fun on our path in any event. This would be the first of two Sacred Navajo Peaks we would visit this year. The hike started out as expected with a good trail. We crossed a meadow and headed up through the trees and soon came to open ground very soon. Apparently fires have contributed significantly to the treeless quality of the upper slopes. The hike had an almost authentic alpine feel to it, as we noticed a slope with snow gullies (photo on right). At this point the weather was very calm, tough cooling off a bit. In my time as a cottoneer, I put on an extra large cotton sweatshirt. The wind really started to pick up as we continued up the ridge.
	We went up some switchbacks for a while, and then came to a long ascending section of trail as wind began to pick up more. We had a hard time plodding forward in the opposing direction, and walked a good portion sideways to avoid the force. We finally arrived in some trees again near the summit, and took a break before heading the last hundred yards. The summit register (in a mailbox) had some interesting comments about the presence of hikers here. We took advantage of the wind shelter and ate lunch before heading down. We did not see another person all day.