Stardate 2016.375

The Sangre de Cristo Range

The Last Of Our Trip
This is the last post for my California trip. From the canyons of southeast Utah, we flew northwest across southwestern Colorado and its finest mountain range — the San Juan Mountains. In the pic below, Lone Cone (12,614 feet) welcomed us back to Colorado. Lone Cone is the western-most major peak in the San Juan Range. It's also Colorado's western-most 12,000-foot mountain.



Southwest Colorado's sprawling San Juan Mountains reach for the sky. There are even more peaks to the left and more peaks to the right. The ski runs of Telluride may be seen in the lower right.



The summit of 14,150-foot Mount Sneffels (rank #27) is my favorite 14,000-foot peak in Colorado. The peak is almost dead-center in the following pic. The band of snow running off its summit is the upper portion of the Snake Couloir, one of the state's finest snow climbs. The section is hidden from view. I climbed the Snake many, many moons ago and should go climb it again. Here's a link to my Sneffels blog post.




Western Colorado's Ridgway Reservoir (no e in Ridgway) will soon be collecting lots of runoff.




We like to road cycle the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River area. The north rim road is visible.




Blue Mesa Reservoir also is gearing up for the spring runoff.




Here's the southern end of the Sawatch Range.



This is the northern terminus for the Sangre de Cristo Range. It's hard to tell here, but the Sangre de Cristo Range runs south all the way to Santa Fe, New Mexico.



A landmark of the Front Range, Pikes Peak towers to 14,110 feet (rank #30). The peak was named after Zebulon Pike of the Pike Expedition in 1806. In 1893 Katharine Lee Bates wrote America the Beautiful after a visit to the summit and taking in the view.




The great plains of America meet the suburban sprawl of the Front Range.




Parting shot: A race to land.




Thanks for reading!

Adios

Stardate 2015.225

I'll Find Myself Some Wings
Snowcatcher and I went craning this past weekend at the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge in the San Luis Valley of south central Colorado. The Rocky Mountain population of Greater Sandhill Cranes uses the San Luis Valley as a "pit stop" during migration between winter and summer ranges.

A few physically smaller Lesser Sandhill Cranes also may be found, but the Lesser Sandhill primarily migrates east of the Rocky Mountains via the Nebraska flyway. The San Luis Valley is surrounded by mountains on three sides with the Sangre de Cristo Range towering to the east, the wild and woolly San Juan Mountains to the West and the sky-piercing Sawatch Range to the north.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains






San Juan Mountains




Sawatch Mountains




Not too hindered by the ice.



As the day warmed, the cranes styled a bit.



The San Luis Valley is a layover site rich in food and wetlands. During the spring, approximately 20,000 cranes use the region for rest and foraging prior to heading northwest through the mountains to the Greater Yellowstone breeding grounds. In the fall, the birds stop in route to New Mexico's Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge where they'll hunker down for winter.




The towering high-point of the Blanca Massive (background) is 14,345-foot Blanca Peak, Colorado's 4th highest peak.



Elegant, yet gangly describes the spring courtship dances that take place in the San Luis Valley. Moreover, the birds mate for life. As for size, an adult Sandhill is approximately 4 feet in height, with a lift-generating 6-foot wingspan. They have a unique call that is easy to recognize but almost impossible to imitate.




Cranes feast in farmer's fields, then overnight in local wetlands.






The Canada Goose also is a migrating visitor in Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge.




Cranes feed beneath 14,294-foot Crestone Peak (top center-right) and 14,197-foot Crestone Needle (top right).




A stone's throw from New Mexico, the region also is rich in American and Mexican history dating back into the late 1700s.

Thanks for reading!

Adios

Stardate 2015.652

Back To The Jungle

Our final day was bittersweet. Bitter, in that I'm not a very good city boy and I didn't want to go back home. Sweet, in that we had the opportunity to spend a handful of days in utopia.

Our route home took us to Taylor Reservoir; from here we took a side-trip to the occupied, late-1800s town of Tin Cup. From Tin Cup we visited Mirror Lake at the foot of the southern Sawatch Mountains. Mirror Lake was our final stop before heading back over the divide via 12,126-foot Cottonwood Pass. Hope you enjoyed tagging along with us on our trip. Below are a few more pics.

Taylor River and Taylor Reservoir are known for larger-than-life fishing.



Sleepy Taylor Reservoir slowly comes to life on a cool August morning.



Morning mist started lifting above the reservoir about the time we drove in.



Taylor Reservoir



Ever so slowly, the Sawatch Range came into view.



Mirror Lake, Sawatch Mountains




That's a wrap. I'm not sure what's next on the docket yet; stay tuned.

Adios