Peakbagger.com
Peak Lists	Climbers	Ranges	Geography	Help	Search	Log In

Ascent of Bald Hills on 2012-05-05

Climber: Richard Oestreicher

Other People:

Solo Ascent
Only Party on Mountain

Date:

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Ascent Type:

Successful Summit Attained

Peak:

Bald Hills

Location:

USA-New Mexico

Elevation:

1948 m / 6392 ft

Ascent Trip Report

This was a consolation prize. I went to White Oaks to see if the place had changed any since my last visit (maybe 15 or 20 years ago) and to climb Baxter Mountain, the peak northwest of town and the site of most of the mining activity when this place amounted to something. I couldn't find any easy access to the base of Baxter. The aptly named Bald Hills was my back up plan.

I parked along the highway next to a ranch gate about 100 yards west of a water tank that appeared to be fitted with solar panels. My GPS put the distance to the hp coordinates at 0.53 mi.

The 0.3 mi walk to the base of the mountain was nearly flat, the only challenge getting across a deep arroyo with 10 foot banks. Once a bit beyond the arroyo it got steadily steeper with nearly all of the elevation gain in the last third of a mile. Scree and shale made the footing a bit treacherous both up and down.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

132 m / 432 ft

Distance:

2.2 km / 1.4 mi

Route Conditions:

Open Country, Bushwhack

Gear Used:

Ski Poles

Weather:

Pleasant, Clear

Ascent Statistics

Elevation Gain:

129 m / 422 ft

Extra Loss:

3 m / 10 ft

Distance:

1.2 km / 0.7 mi

Trailhead:

NM 349 1822 m / 5980 ft

Time Up:

25 Minutes

Descent Statistics

Extra Gain:

3 m / 10 ft

Distance:

1.1 km / 0.7 mi

Time Down:

17 Minutes

This page has been served 49 times since 2005-01-15.