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Ascent of Maestas Ridge on 2011-08-04

Climber: Richard Oestreicher

Other People:

Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain

Date:

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Peak:

Maestas Ridge

Location:

USA-New Mexico

Elevation:

10580 ft / 3224 m

Ascent Trip Report

After climbing Cerro del Oso off of Forest Road 442, I headed back to my home base in Taos on Forest Road 439. I parked at a spot about 9 miles east of New Mexico 518 where my GPS told me I was less than 0.9 miles (south) from the top of Maestas Ridge. The topo map suggests that there may be closer and easier access from the north side via Forest Road 440, but I didn't relish another long haul on rough forest roads to get there.

The route up is a very steep bushwhack (1300 feet elevation gain in 1.2 miles) through dense underbrush and fallen trees. Don't try this unless you have experience with off trail bushwhacking. Abandoned logging tracks--in various states of overgrowth-- crisscross the direct route up and down. I used these a bit to avoid some of the bushwhack coming down but that adds significantly to the distance. There's a clearing on top where I had pleasant snack and enjoyed the great views-- the Jicarita and Truchas peaks to the south, the Taos valley to the west, and Cerro del Oso that I climbed earlier today to the southeast.

Taos County peak #32.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

1383 ft / 421 m

Distance:

3.3 mi / 5.3 km

Route Conditions:

Bushwhack

Ascent Statistics

Elevation Gain:

1300 ft / 396 m

Distance:

1.2 mi / 1.9 km

Route:

bushwhack

Trailhead:

Forest Road 439 9280 ft / 2828 m

Time Up:

1 Hours 22 Minutes

Descent Statistics

Extra Gain:

83 ft / 25 m

Distance:

2.1 mi / 3.4 km

Time Down:

58 Minutes

GPS Data for Ascent/Trip

GPS Waypoints - Hover or click to see name and lat/long
Peaks: climbed and unclimbed by Richard Oestreicher
Click Here for a Full Screen Map
Note: GPS Tracks may not be accurate, and may not show the best route. Do not follow this route blindly. Conditions change frequently. Use of a GPS unit in the outdoors, even with a pre-loaded track, is no substitute for experience and good judgment. Peakbagger.com accepts NO resposibility or liability from use of this data.

Download this GPS track as a GPX file

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