Life with the Mountain Girls: Deception Peak: My First Unassisted Summit Hike

Not only was our hike to Deception Peak stunning, but this was the first summit hike I completed all by myself! Having short, stubby legs and a flat nose, this is a huge accomplishment. We headed up early on a cool, summer day, and because the air was cool and damp for our entire ascent, I did not need to be carried and completed the eight-mile round trip hike, covering approximately 3,000 feet of elevation gain. Woof, woof!

Heading out shortly after dawn.

Our trail began at the Santa Fe Ski basin, taking the Winsor Trail up to the trail's intersection by the main wooden gate. Instead of continuing on straight through the gate onto Winsor Trail towards Baldy, we headed up the trail to the right and followed along a barbed wire fence for a few miles. The trail was super lush with greenery everywhere and wildflowers!

We continued up along the fence until we reached Raven's Ridge, where the trail opened up revealing stunning vistas. From here we saw a beautiful view of Santa Fe Baldy before continuing up the ridge, soaking in all of the breathtaking views of the valley bowl below.

The hike along the Raven's Ridge was strenuous but offered beautiful views of the surrounding valleys, including a gorgeous view down into Nambe Lake (which we just hiked a few weeks before!). As we were gaining elevation, we came upon a most unexpected sight - a fox! The fox looked at me like I was the perfect breakfast, but my big sister chased the him off and protected us. What a rare sight!

Hello, Mr. Fox. Please don't eat me!

View of Nambe Lake.

View towards Santa Fe.

At last, we made it to the summit ridge. We were the first ones up the trail that morning and were able to enjoy the views and explore the high mountain terrain all to ourselves before heading back down.

Our family portrait on Deception Peak.

View of Lake Peak.

Deception Peak is so named because Lake Peak is the real peak in this area. My humans wanted to go all the way up to Lake Peak, but there's some rock climbing involved and a huge rock fissure. I quickly let them know that was WAY above my pay-grade!