When I began planning my Santa Fe to Taos (SF2T) thru-hike, I relied heavily on Pam Neely’s SF2T guidebook and the different itineraries she provided in the chapter near the end of the book.
I was thrilled to take on this newly developed route this because the autumn scenery in northern New Mexico is something truly special this time of year. I have vivid memories of hiking to the summit of Wheeler Peak (the state’s high point) on a sunny October day back in 2019 while the aspens turned gold. So a new adventure in the Sangre de Cristo mountains seemed to be the perfect escape during the Federal government’s shutdown.
As I perused the various distance and resupply options in the book, I settled on an itinerary that would allow me to complete this 132-mile route in seven days. I also planned to add two detours to the recommended route so I could climb a couple of prominent peaks that I’d encounter in the Pecos Wilderness: Santa Fe Baldy (12,634′ elevation) and Truchas Peak (13,107′ elevation).
My 7-day hiking itinerary from Santa Fe Plaza to Taos Plaza is very similar to the sample itinerary on pages 153 and 154 of the SF2T guidebook. However, after considering the highlights and challenges of this thru-hike, I would NOT recommend such an ambitious itinerary to others (more on the reasons why below).
My 7-day Itinerary
| Day | Start | End | Distance hiked | Deviations from the SF2T Guidebook |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Fe Plaza | Santa Fe Ski Basin | 19 miles | |
| 2 | Santa Fe Ski Basin | Panchuela Creek | 19.4 miles | Detour up Santa Fe Baldy (+2.2 miles) |
| 3 | Panchuela Creek | Truchas Lake | 16.7 miles | Detour up Truchas Peak (+3.1 miles) |
| 4 | Truchas Lake | Agua Piedra Creek | 22.3 miles | Used the Santa Barbara Divide cut-off trail (-1.5 miles) |
| 5 | Agua Piedra Creek | FR 439A / Rio Grande del Rancho | 17.7 miles | Used the Trail 8 cut-off near Gallegos Park (-1.4 miles) |
| 6 | FR 439A / Rio Grande del Rancho | Rio Chiquito (near Drake Canyon Loop Trail) | 21.1 miles | Omitted out-and-back to Bernadin Lake (-1.2 miles) |
| 7 | Rio Chiquito (near Drake Canyon Loop Trail) | Taos Plaza | 14.2 miles | Missed the Ojitos Trail shortcut (+0.3 miles) |
| TOTAL DISTANCE | 130.4 miles | Detour miles added = 5.6 Guidebook miles omitted = 4.1 |
NOTE: All mileages are based on my actual “on-the-ground” recorded distances on my Garmin GPS watch, not the distances found in the SF2T guidebook nor the maps I used in planning this adventure.
dETAILED ROUTE summary
DAY 1 – This leg of the hike took me from Santa Fe Plaza up to the Santa Fe Ski Basin. I started out the day at 7,199 feet of elevation and steadily climbed up to 10,299 feet. The initial miles of the day were gentle as I made my way out of downtown Santa Fe and over the Dale Balls trail network. After 10 miles of relatively easy hiking, I crossed the Tesuque Creek and spent the next 9 miles steadily climbing toward the ski basin under the shade of aspens. This first portion of today’s route between Santa Fe and Tesuque Creek was fairly busy with day hikers, even on a weekday. But I barely saw a soul during the second half of the day until I reached the ski basin. My total gain/loss today was 7,447 vertical feet over 19 miles.
DAY 2 – This leg of the hike took me from the Santa Fe Ski Basin up to the Pecos Wilderness. After climbing up to Puerto Nambe and the Skyline Trail, I stashed my backpack at the saddle just below Santa Fe Baldy and set off for the 2.2-mile (round-trip) climb to the tallest peak in Santa Fe County at 12,632 feet in elevation. After a successful summit, I returned to the saddle and followed the trail down to Lake Katherine for lunch, and then continued hiking past Stewart Lake and Stewart Pond toward the Cave Creek Trail and Panchuela Creek. I saw lots of day hikers and trail runners on my way to Santa Fe Baldy, and a handful of backpackers at Katherine Lake and Stewart Lake. The most notable wildlife came when I turned onto the Cave Creek Trail and startled a wild horse in the woods. I set up camp in a meadow near Panchuela Creek, about 0.25 miles before the Dockweiler Trail, to take advantage of sleeping at the day’s low point (8,532 feet) after the day’s big summit. My total gain/loss for today was 11,018 vertical feet over 19.4 miles.
DAY 3 – This leg began with the 8-mile-long climb up to Pecos Baldy Lake, where I crossed paths with lots of deer. The route continued up to 12,000 feet elevation to the Trailriders Wall, a broad exposed hogback with fantastic views of Truchas Peak, Middle Truchas, and North Truchas. I stopped for lunch on the south end of the Trailriders Wall and saw the best wildlife of the trip, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep grazing while the dark storm clouds hovered in the background. Today was the gnarliest day in terms of weather, with 30-35 mph winds whipping as I crossed the Trailriders Wall. I almost omitted my detour up Truchas Peak due to the weather. I ultimately decided to set up my tent just beyond the intersection with the Jose Vigil Trail. Then I offloaded the majority of my gear inside my tent so I could make the 3.1-mile (round-trip) detour to the summit of New Mexico’s second-tallest peak with as light a load as possible. It was a challenging ascent up to 13,107 feet with the raging wind, but I saw my first person of the day (and his dog) at the summit. Returning to my tent, I packed up my gear and raced against the storm and some hail to reach a higher-than-desired campsite at Truchas Lake (11,860 feet). Day 3 was another big day!, My total gain/loss was 8,883 vertical feet over 16.7 miles (with most of it occurring between 10,000 and 13,000 feet elevation!).
DAY 4 – The first 12 miles of this day were some of the prettiest hiking of the entire trek. I started at Truchas Lake and climbed up to the 12,000-foot Santa Barbara Divide via the cut-off trail. Beyond that, I embarked on 11 miles of downhill hiking through aspens and mountain scenery, making my way down to Santa Barbara Campground (8,851 feet), where my food cache awaited me. This was the first Sunday in October, and the final 4 miles to the campground was busy with 70-80 dayhikers out enjoying the autumn leaves. After a late lunch at the campground, resupplying, and dumping my trash, it was time to take on my least favorite part of this entire SF2T route. The next 4.5 miles were a steep ascent back up to almost 12,000 feet elevation at Ripley Point, which was covered with fallen and uprooted trees, but had absolutely NO views. I’d initially planned to stop at Los Esteros, but this pond was equally unimpressive. So I pressed on, hiking until nearly dark, until Agua Piedras Creek so I could camp back down at 8,982 feet. My total gain/loss for today was 12,168 vertical feet over 22.3 miles.
DAY 5 – After yesterday’s difficult and demoralizing hike up and over Ripley Point, I was hoping for some better views as I made my way past Tres Ritos and up the steep, unmaintained trails to La Cueva Lake (10,154 feet). Unfortunately, the “lake” was nothing more than a muddy watering hole that almost certainly was teeming with E. coli from the wildlife that used it. I was beginning to believe that the best part of this hike was over as the route transitioned from some unmaintained trails to forest roads. I used the Trail 8 cut-off to shave 1.4 miles of roadwalking near Gallegos Park, and spent the next 10 miles hiking on shaded forest roads lined with golden aspens. I also got my first glimpses of the Taos Mountains in the 0.75-mile burn scan from the Sardinas Canyon Fire before dropping down to the Rio Grande del Rancho and camping at 9,740 feet elevation. My total gain/loss for the day was 6,808 vertical feet over 17.7 miles.
DAY 6 – Today was spent hiking on nothing but forest roads and abandoned forest roads. I began with the 3-mile ascent to what the SF2T guidebook calls the “connector.” This was an overgrown and abandoned forest road that connects FR 439A to FR 438. The initial 0.75 miles of this route looked as if the forest was trying to reclaim it, but lucky for me, someone marked this connector route with blue tape to help hikers avoid getting lost. After several miles descending via the connector, I passed a small fish gate on a creek and reached FR 438. The first few miles of FR 438 were also overgrown, but the road showed more evidence of regular use, and it didn’t require navigation markers. Near a large Beaver Pond, FR 438 transitioned to a wide forest road again, and I crossed paths with four guys on loud dirt bikes (my only wildlife of the day). With plenty of water on hand, I had no reason to stop at the Beaver Pond or to make the 1.2-mile detour over to Bernardin Lake (as recommended by the SF2T guidebook), so I continued hiking north toward Puertocito and eventually to the silver bridge crossing the Rio Chiquito. The remaining miles of the afternoon were easy and fast as I paralleled Rio Chiquito on (yet another) dirt forest road nearly all the way to the mouth of Drake Canyon, and I set my tent up at a car camping spot at 7,709 feet. My total gain/loss for today was 7,541 vertical feet over 21.1 miles.
DAY 7 – My final day on the SF2T route was my shortest one, but it still had one big climb left. After packing up early in hopes of seeing one final sunrise, I began the climb up the Drake Canyon Loop Trail. Unfortunately, with rain in the forecast, I was met with low clouds and didn’t get the beautiful New Mexican daybreak I’d hoped for. When I made it to the top of the 1,400-foot climb, I got my first glimpse of the edge of Taos. My route followed the Ojitos Trail down, which was somewhat frustrating due to the numerous short, artificially created hills/ramps designed for mountain bikes (though I only crossed paths with one person on a bike). I also completely missed the Ojitos shortcut down to the El Nogal TH and had to walk an extra 0.3 miles as a result. Once I reached the end of the trail network, all that was left was the road walk into Taos (plus the obligatory stop for an avocado burrito at Taos Cow). My total gain/loss for today was a mere 5,218 vertical feet over 14.2 miles.
WHAT I WISH I’D Done Differently
When I planned my SF2T trek, I was pretty cavalier about the challenges this high-elevation route would pose. I approached this adventure as if it were just another Southwestern trail like the Arizona Trail, Highline Trail, or Tahoe Rim Trail.
My first mistake was committing myself to hiking big mileage days. This meant I largely ignored the significant vertical changes that lay before me in these mountains.
Even more foolishly, I flew into northern New Mexico from my home in the Pacific Northwest (elevation 428 feet above sea level) just one day before beginning this thru-hike. I was about as far from being acclimated to this adventure’s elevation as a person could be.
These were major mistakes!
The SF2T route begins (and ends) at an elevation of roughly 7,000 feet. Nowhere does this route drop lower than those two points, and a large percentage of this trek is above 10,000 feet.
Moreover, unlike the Colorado Trail or other high-elevation trails I’ve hiked in the past, the SF2T route does not give hikers ample time to acclimate during their first few days. It just begins climbing. By the morning of day 2, I was already standing above 12,600 feet!
Unfortunately, this rapid ascent created near 100% certainty that I would develop some symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS), more commonly known as altitude sickness, because the SF2T route does not return to elevations below 8,000 feet until the final miles of this hike.
WARNING: According to the Cleveland Clinic, almost everyone who ascends quickly to 11,000 will develop AMS. This route also exceeds the increase in ascent of 1,640 feet per day.
DO BEtter
Why did I share my SF2T thru-hike itinerary if I don’t recommend others to follow it? The simple answer is that I want other hikers to avoid making the same mistakes and plan this hike differently than they might approach a typical thru-hike.
It’s very easy to approach long-distance trails as if they are all the same. I’ll admit that I got overconfident during my planning, which is easy to do when you’re familiar with your typical mileages and a guidebook presents an ambitious itinerary that seems reasonable on its face.
Pushing myself to cover long distances at high altitude put an immense strain on my body’s ability to recover for the next leg of the journey. It can be especially dangerous, especially in such a remote wilderness location.
Experienced hikers know it’s not just about how many miles you can crush from sunrise to sunset. You need to take into account any significant vertical gains and losses of a route. Hiking 20-mile days on gentle rolling hills is far easier than the same distance in the Sierras.
However, SF2T hikers must also consider that the starting elevation on this route is 7,000 feet above sea level. Very few long trails in the US begin at such a high altitude and then keep you there for a week or more.
Hiking a trail with 60,000 vertical feet of gain/loss over 130 miles is a significant challenge. Attempting this same feat when you are consistently between 9,000 and 12,000 feet of elevation (and not yet acclimated) is an entirely different and dangerous beast.
Here’s a comprehensive snapshot of what my SF2T hike really entailed with elevation:
| Day | Starting elevation | High point of the day | End (sleep) elevation | Distance hiked | Vertical gain/loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 428 feet | 7,199 feet | 7,199 feet | *Travel day | n/a |
| 1 | 7,199 feet | 10,299 feet | 10,299 feet | 19 miles | 7,447 feet |
| 2 | 10,248 feet | 12,632 feet | 8,532 feet | 19.4 miles | 11,018 feet |
| 3 | 8,532 feet | 13,107 feet | 11,806 feet | 16.7 miles | 8,883 feet |
| 4 | 11,860 feet | 11,999 feet | 8,982 feet | 22.3 miles | 12,190 feet |
| 5 | 8,982 feet | 10,726 feet | 9,740 feet | 17.7 miles | 6,808 feet |
| 6 | 9,740 feet | 10.432 feet | 7,709 feet | 21.1 miles | 7,541 feet |
| 7 | 7,709 feet | 9,285 feet | 6,954 feet | 14.2 miles | 5,218 feet |
Hike Smarter
Looking back on this experience now, I would NOT recommend this aggressive 7-day itinerary to any fellow thru-hikers, unless:
- They live at high elevations (7,000 – 10,000 feet) and are accustomed to vigorously exercising at those elevations; or
- They just completed a longer high-elevation thru-hike in the days immediately before beginning the SF2T thru-hike (e.g., the Colorado Trail, the John Muir Trail), or
- They’ve spent at least 5 days acclimating to the elevation before beginning this route. This acclimatization can be achieved by day hiking to high elevations during the daytime and then returning to lower elevations to sleep, allowing symptoms to resolve overnight. This method is known as the “climb high, sleep low.”
My failure to do any of these things meant I was struggling with moderate AMS symptoms, including intense fatigue, headaches, and nausea, for several days of my thru-hike. Even hiking at a slower pace, guzzling liters of water, and camping at the lowest possible elevation each day was no replacement for proper acclimatization.
As a final note, remember that AMS and High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) are on the same spectrum of altitude sickness. HACE usually occurs over 9,000 feet, and a person who continues to push themselves physically at altitude for several days without proper acclimatization could suffer from confusion, slurred speech, loss of muscle coordination, unconsciousness, and brain swelling.
So, what do I recommend?
I wished I’d flown into New Mexico earlier and followed option #3 (above) so I could have acclimated more. I should have planned extra time on the front end of this adventure to allow me to do some challenging acclimatization hikes, like Sandia Peak, Atalaya Mountain, or Wheeler Peak, instead of just diving right into the SF2T thru-hike.
I hope this breakdown of the REAL numbers behind the SF2T thru-hike is helpful for my fellow hikers who hope to attempt this trail. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to head to northern New Mexico in early October to take in the fall colors, crisp air, and bag several mountains on my bucket list. I just wish I’d been smarter about acclimating so I could have enjoyed the hike even more.
Happy Trails!
