by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Standing at 13,517 feet, Trinchera (“trench”) Peak is the northernmost thirteener in the Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristos. Trinchera Peak is located near Cuchara where the Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains creates a north striking...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Wet Mountains, a small sub-range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, are named for the amount of snow they receive each winter. Most of the Wet Mountains are in Custer County, although Greenhorn Mountain (the range’s tallest summit) and some other parts of...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Spanish Peaks are geologically distinct from the faulted and uplifted mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range to the west. To the geologist, the Spanish Peaks are prime examples of stocks—large masses of igneous rock layered by sedimentary rock and exposed by...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Silver Mountain rises just east of Mt. Mestas and is composed of the same granitic materials. However, Silver Mountain is also at the center of a set of granitic dikes radiating outward like spokes on a wheel around the mountain. For most of its history, Silver...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Sheep (10,635′) and Little Sheep (9,679′) Mountains are in a line heading northward from Mt. Mestas. Both of these mountains are composed of the same granitic stock materials as Mt. Mestas, Silver Mountain, Rough Mountain, and the Spanish Peaks. Climbing on them is...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
The Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range is one of the longest ranges on Earth. It stretches from Poncha Pass in Central Colorado to Glorieta Pass southeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Sangres consist of ten 14,000-foot peaks and more than two dozen 13,000-foot peaks....
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Mt. Mestas is a mountain summit in the southeastern Sangre de Cristo Range. The 11,573-foot peak is located 3.2 miles southeast of North La Veta Pass. The mountain was known as La Veta Peak until 1949 when it was renamed in honor of PFC Felix B. Mestas, Jr. who was...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
14,042-foot Mount Lindsey is a high mountain summit on the Sierra Blanca Massif in the Sangre de Cristo Range. The summit and most of the southern flank of the mountain are privately held, but access to the summit is allowed. In 1954, the name was changed to honor...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
Ten miles north of Walsenburg, just off Highway 25, is Huerfano Butte, a conical-shaped circular plug that draws hundreds of visitors every year. It rises from the ground, contrasting the surrounding gently rolling hills of sagebrush and sparse grass, and gives the...
by Tony | Jan 9, 2024 | Uncategorized
California Peak, the 84th highest peak in Colorado, sits along the spine of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains directly north of Mt. Blanca. The 13,855-foot thirteener is more specifically located on the Sierra Blanca Massif, 12.1 miles north of the Town of Blanca, on the...