Cabezon Peak

Cabezon Peak is a prominent volcanic plug in New Mexico, about 70 miles from Albuquerque. Despite some discouraging weather reports (the first winter storm front of the season moving in from the Pacific Northwest, bringing temperatures in the 30s, wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour, and good chance of a wintry mix of precipitation), we forged ahead and rolled out of town about 4:15 on November 9, 2012.

It took about an hour and a half to get there, and by the time we met up with Dave Hendrickson's friend Thomas at the camp site, we had a little light and a lot to do. The sprinkling rain wasn't helping much. But we managed to get the campfire going (seems that's always the highest priority), and started roasting our hot dogs about 7:15.

After food and refreshment, it was time to relax, explore, and (given the volcanic history of the area) smelt some copper. Here's Kalan opening up the makeshift forge: a terra cotta planter pot with holes near the bottom that we used to supply air from a battery-powered air mattress pump, filled with charcoal briquets. The copper? Pre-1983 copper pennies.

With the battery-powered "bellows", we could get the copper glowing red hot, but weren't able to melt the it before the batteries in the pump ran down. After this first attempt, I think we've got a few ideas for next time...

We also told some stories, played a few games (I dare you to ask a Scout to "pick three things"), and were introduced to the mystical art of Coal Juggling.

We were all in bed by 11 pm, and luckily, Zombie Brother Paxton was no where to be seen. The wind picked up a bit, and the temperature dipped to about 35 degrees, but we all managed to get some sleep.

 The next morning greeted us with a rainbow. Come to find out, a rainbow in the morning means the weather hasn't gotten here yet. Thinking rain was definitely in the forecast, we hurried to clean up camp and get some breakfast: hot chocolate, donuts, bananas, and juice.

All fueled up, and after a short rain shower, we started on the trail to the top of Cabezon Peak at about 7:45. With the wind at our backs, it didn't take us long to get to get around to the other side of the peak and the start of the ascent up the Big Head.

Here's Kalan on the top of the fin:

By the time we got to the last scramble to the top, the wind at our backs brought rain, sleet, and then snow. The rocks that we'd need to climb weren't just damp, they were wet and slippery. So we had a quick chat about "acceptable risk", and decided that the triumph of getting to the top didn't offset the risk of someone getting hurt or worse because of the unsafe condition of the trail.

Slightly disappointed, but feeling we made the right call, we headed back down the trail, including a couple of steep descents that were a little more terrifying on the way down that we remembered them coming up. But we all made it down like rock stars, because, you know, a scout is BRAVE.

After a great hike with a respectable amount of danger (even if it was a bit shorter than we planned) here we are with the same number of Scouts we had when we started. Couldn't help but notice the score though -  Scouts 0; Cabezon 1. But Cabezon hasn't seen the last of us: we'll be back next year.