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Mount Wheeler Campout - Tallest Mountain in New Mexico
Red River is about 3 hours north of Albuquerque.  It is definitely a resort town with some very expensive homes.  There is a ski hill right in the middle of town.  Oddly enough the ski lift was running and taking people to the top of the hill and back.  What us tourists will do for fun....
Lucy is ready to go.  We left Anabel home with Lori for this trip.  Here, Lucy is modeling her pretty pink backpack packed with delicious IAMS dog food. 
And.... the trailhead for Wheeler Peak Wilderness.
About three miles in we crossed the east fork of the Red River and headed west toward Horseshoe Lake.
The trail is well kept and we also noticed there was a lot of traffic for a Saturday.  We must have seen 20 other hikers.  Some were just out for the day and others were staying longer.
The creeks were cool and clear.  We filled up with water at most of the creeks mostly because we were unsure when the next crossing would be. 
Horseshoe Lake sits at 11,950 feet elevation and I have to admit, the last 1000' of hiking was a bit tough.  Another tidbit of information, I was the oldest hiker I saw on the mountain... funny?
We had a hard time finding level ground so relented to a ridgeline between the lake and valley below. 
Here is a picture of Lucy intent on learning what was making the funny high pitch squeak.
Aha... a Marmot!  This version of groundhog is called the Hoary Marmot (Marmota Calegata) and is a species of marmot that inhabits the mountains of northwest America, mostly at the tree line altitudes. 

It was pretty cool that we got to see one.  Lucy was pretty intent on trying a sneak maneuver. 

 
This is a sunrise photo.  The wind blew horribly last night.  We thought the tent was going to come apart with bent poles etc.  Pretty tough tent....
After breakfast we left for the summit.  This is a picture of Horseshoe Lake and you can tell where it got it's name from.

The spring at the left runs into the lake with a full flow of water.... nice and cool too. 

I put the camera on a rock and snapped this one.
This small lake didn't have a name, but I think another trip might warrant some bushwhacking and camp on its shores.  There were no trails I could locate that went to this lake.
This is a shot of where we had come from. You can see the trail has gotten a bit narrow at this point. 
Wheeler Peak, elevation 13,161 feet.  The wind was blowing from the west at an easy 50 MPH gusts.  In fact, you could hardly stand up on the ridgeline.
Looking Southeast....
And, looking Southwest.  It was pretty awesome being up here..... Oh, and did I say windy and cold? 
Another shot of Horseshoe Lake on the way down.
Lucy was a good leader on the way out.  We were going to spend another night in the trees.  But, decided to go ahead and walk out. 
Last chance for water before the trailhead.  It was a fairly long hike on the second day.  Lets see:

Horseshoe Lake - 5 miles (day 1)

Day 2 - 4 miles from lake to the summit, 4 miles back to the lake, the 5 miles out.  13 miles total for day 2.  Yep, long day....... but wouldn't have traded it for anything.  Total trip - 18 miles in two days.