1.
Sangre de Cristo Range
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The Sangre de Cristo Range rises over 7,000 feet above the valleys and plains to the west and northeast. According to the USGS, the range is the part of the larger Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Usage of the terms Sangre de Cristo Range and Sangre de Cristo Mountains is varied, however, most of the range is shared by two National Forests, which abut along the range divide. Most of the northeast side is located within the San Isabel National Forest, the central part of the range is designated as the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness. The Great Sand Dunes National Park sits on the flank of the range at the edge of the San Luis Valley. The range divide is traversed by no paved roads, only by four wheel drive and foot trails over Hayden Pass, Hermit Pass, Music Pass, Medano Pass, and Mosca Pass. The highest peak in the range, located in the south, is Blanca Peak, other well-known peaks are the fourteeners of the Crestone group, Kit Carson Mountain, Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, and Humboldt Peak. Two sub-peaks of Kit Carson Mountain, Challenger Point and Columbia Point, are named in memory of the crews of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the range is also home to many high peaks in the 13,000 to 14,000 foot range. See the Sangre de Cristo Mountains article for other noteworthy summits in the greater range, in 1719 the Spanish explorer Antonio Valverde y Cosio named the Sangre de Cristo mountains after being impressed by the reddish hue of the snowy peaks at sunrise, alpenglow. Today tourism is the economic activity. The Sangre de Cristos are fault-block mountains similar to the Teton Range in Wyoming, there are major fault lines running along both the east and west sides of the range and, in places, cutting through the range. The mountains were pushed up around 5 million years ago, basically as one mass of rock. The Sangre de Cristo range is still being uplifted today as faults in the area remain active, on the west side is the San Luis Valley, a portion of the Rio Grande Rift. On the southeast side is the Raton Basin, a quiet and these sedimentary rocks originated as sediment eroded from the Ancestral Rocky Mountains
Sangre de Cristo Range
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Sangre de Cristo Range seen from
Hardscrabble Pass.
Sangre de Cristo Range
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Seen from the San Luis Valley
Sangre de Cristo Range
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Northern Sangre de Cristo Range seen from
Coaldale, Colorado.
Sangre de Cristo Range
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The Sangre de Cristo Range rising above the
Great Sand Dunes National Park
2.
Blanca Peak
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Blanca Peak is the fourth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U. S. state of Colorado. The ultra-prominent 14, 351-foot peak is the highest summit of the Sierra Blanca Massif, the Sangre de Cristo Range, the summit is the highest point of both counties and the entire drainage basin of the Rio Grande. Blanca Peak is higher than any point in the United States east of its longitude, the Blanca Peak Tripoint is the highest point in Huerfano County. Blanca Peak is located at the end of the Sangre de Cristo Range, a subrange of the more extensive Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It lies approximately 20 miles east-northeast of the town of Alamosa, approximately 15 miles to the north-northwest is Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Blanca Peak is notable not only for its height, but also for its great local relief and dominant position at the end of the range. For example, it rises nearly 7,000 feet over the edge of the San Luis Valley in only 6 miles. Blanca is also the third most topographically prominent peak in Colorado, Blanca Peak heads up three major creeks. Holbrook Creek is on the west, flowing from a basin including Crater Lake, Blue Lakes, an extremely challenging four wheel drive road accesses Como Lake 11,750 feet, and provides the most common access to Blanca Peak. Most vehicles stop at an elevation of between 8,000 feet and 10,000 feet on this road, the Como Lake Road is a designated Alamosa County Road and runs to the edge of the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness just short of Blue Lakes. The Como Lake Road is rated as the most challenging 4WD road in Colorado, the Huerfano River flows from the north side of Blanca Peak. A road, starting out as a two-wheel drive road, then becoming a four-wheel drive road, Blanca Creek drains Blanca Basin under the south slopes of the peak, and Little Ute Creek descends from the Winchell Lakes on the southeast side. However these are not used to access the peak due to private property, three other fourteeners are nearby, Mount Lindsey to the east, Ellingwood Point to the north and Little Bear Peak to the southwest. Ellingwood Point is connected to Blanca by a short, high ridge, Little Bear also has a high connecting ridge to Blanca, but it is a technical traverse, only recommended for highly experienced parties. The granite that makes up the Blanca massif is pre-Cambrian in age, the major part of the Wet Mountains to the east and the Front Range to the northeast are also pre-Cambrian, also about 1.8 billion years old. In contrast, the Sangre de Cristo Range to the north, Blanca Peak is known to the Navajo people as the Sacred Mountain of the East, Sisnaajiní, the Dawn or White Shell Mountain. The mountain is considered to be the boundary of the Dinetah. It is associated with the white, and is said to be covered in daylight and dawn
Blanca Peak
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View of Blanca Peak (left of center) from
Mt. Lindsey
3.
Alamosa, Colorado
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Alamosa is a city under Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,780 at the 2010 United States Census, the city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado, and is the home of Adams State University. Alamosa was established in May 1878 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, Alamosa is now a notable tourist town with many nearby attractions, including the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve and Colorado Gators Reptile Park. Alamosa is located at 37°28′N 105°52′W, at the junction of U. S. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 5.5 square miles, of which 5.4 square miles is land and 0.12 square miles. Alamosa is located along the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley, the San Luis Valley is the largest intermountain valley in the world, where local farmers specialize in growing cool weather crops. Elevation is about 7,500 feet in Alamosa with peaks over 14,000 feet within 23 miles of town in the Sangre de Cristo Range, Alamosa features a cold desert climate with long, cold winters and warm summers, and dry weather year-round. Normals range from a low of −4 °F in January to a high of 82 °F in July, annual precipitation is only 7.25 inches, with summer being the wettest. The aridity depresses mean snowfall to around 32 inches, and the median to only 22.3 inches, the altitude and dryness of the air cause day-night temperature differences to be severe year-round.7 nights with minima below 0 °F. As of the census of 2000, there were 7,960 people,2,974 households, the population density was 1,995.0 people per square mile. There were 3,215 housing units at a density of 805.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 68. 53% White,1. 41% Black or African American,2. 20% Native American,0. 95% Asian,0. 26% Pacific Islander,22. 36% from other races, and 4. 28% from two or more races. 46. 80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,33. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the family size was 3.04. In the city, the population was out with 24. 4% under the age of 18,21. 8% from 18 to 24,24. 8% from 25 to 44,18. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 28 years, for every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males, the median income for a household in the city was $25,453, and the median income for a family was $33,017. Males had an income of $27,100 versus $22,671 for females
Alamosa, Colorado
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Entering from the east
Alamosa, Colorado
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City Hall in Alamosa
Alamosa, Colorado
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Train station in Alamosa
4.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
Summit
–
The highest elevation summit, Mount Everest, shown with a climber at the summit wearing an oxygen mask. The summit is 8850 m (29,035 ft) elevation. (While the cruising altitude of jetliners is roughly 10,000 m (32,808 feet), they are pressurized.)
Summit
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View from the summit of Switzerland's highest,
Monte Rosa
Summit
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The summit of
Mount Damavand,
Iran, in winter
Summit
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Jeff Davis Peak, one of the highest peaks entirely within
Nevada
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
6.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania
Spanish language
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A page of
Cantar de Mio Cid, the oldest preserved Spanish
epic poem, in medieval Spanish.
Spanish language
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Spanish is sole official language at the national level
Spanish language
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Antonio de Nebrija, author of
Gramática de la lengua castellana, the first grammar of modern European languages.
Spanish language
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Miguel de Cervantes author of
Don Quixote, considered the first modern European novel.
7.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
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Flag
United States
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
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The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
8.
Colorado
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Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,540,545 on July 1,2016, the state was named for the Colorado River, which Spanish travelers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28,1861, Colorado is nicknamed the Centennial State because it became a state in the same year as the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, residents of the state are properly known as Coloradans, although the term Coloradoan has been used archaically and lives on in the title of Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado, Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than one half of the area of Colorado is flat, East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet. The Colorado plains were mostly prairies, but they have many patches of forests, buttes. Eastern Colorado is presently covered in farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages. Precipitation is fair, averaging from 15 to 25 inches annually, corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, however, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline. As well as agriculture, eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as cattle ranches. Roughly 70% of Colorados population resides along the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The Front Range includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley and other townships, on the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction, Durango, and Montrose
Colorado
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The
Elk Mountains near
Aspen, Colorado
Colorado
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Flag
Colorado
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Mountains and lakes near
Breckenridge, Colorado
Colorado
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A view of the arid high plains in Southeastern Colorado
9.
New Mexico
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New Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. It was admitted to the Union as the 47th state on January 6,1912 and it is usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is fifth by area, the 36th-most populous, inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years before European exploration, New Mexico was colonized by the Spanish in 1598 Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. Later, it was part of independent Mexico before becoming a U. S. territory and eventually a U. S. state as a result of the Mexican–American War. Among U. S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, the major Native American nations in the state are Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache peoples. The demography and culture of the state are shaped by these strong Hispanic and Native American influences and its scarlet and gold colors are taken from the royal standards of Spain, along with the ancient sun symbol of the Zia, a Pueblo-related tribe. New Mexico, or Nuevo México in Spanish, is incorrectly believed to have taken its name from the nation of Mexico. The name simply stuck, even though the area had no connection to Mexico or the Mexica Indian tribes, Mexico, formerly a part of New Spain, adopted its name centuries later in 1821, after winning independence from Spanish rule. New Mexico was a part of the independent Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Mexico for 27 years,1821 through 1848, New Mexico and Mexico developed as neighboring Spanish-speaking communities under Spanish rule, with relatively independent histories. The states total area is 121,412 square miles, the eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and 2.2 miles west of 103° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, the western border with Arizona runs along the 109°03 W longitude. The southwestern corner of the state is known as the Bootheel, the 37° N latitude parallel forms the northern boundary with Colorado. The states New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah come together at the Four Corners in the corner of New Mexico. New Mexico, although a state, has very little water. Its surface water area is about 250 square miles, the New Mexican landscape ranges from wide, rose-colored deserts to broken mesas to high, snow-capped peaks. Despite New Mexicos arid image, heavily forested mountain wildernesses cover a significant portion of the state, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost part of the Rocky Mountains, run roughly north-south along the east side of the Rio Grande in the rugged, pastoral north. The most important of New Mexicos rivers are the Rio Grande, Pecos, Canadian, San Juan, the Rio Grande is tied for the fourth-longest river in the United States. Tourists visiting these sites bring significant money to the state, other areas of geographical and scenic interest include Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument and the Gila Wilderness in the southwest of the state
New Mexico
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Wheeler Peak in the
Sangre de Cristo Range
New Mexico
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Flag
New Mexico
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Chaco Canyon
New Mexico
–
Carlsbad Caverns
10.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
Mountain range
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The
Himalayas, the highest mountain range on Earth, seen from space
Mountain range
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Mountain range of
High Tatras in
Slovakia in 1865
Mountain range
–
The
Andes, the world's longest mountain range on the surface of a continent, seen from the air
Mountain range
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Hillary and Norgay Montes on Pluto (14 July 2015)
11.
Rocky Mountains
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The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 miles from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges, the Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks, at the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. The first mention of their present name by a European was in the journal of Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in 1752, the Rocky Mountains are commonly defined as stretching from the Liard River in British Columbia south to the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The United States definition of the Rockies includes the Cabinet and Salish Mountains of Idaho and their counterparts north of the Kootenai River, the Columbia Mountains, are considered a separate system in Canada, lying to the west of the huge Rocky Mountain Trench. This runs the length of British Columbia from its beginnings in the middle Flathead River valley in western Montana to the bank of the Liard River. The Rockies vary in width from 70 to 300 miles, also west of the Rocky Mountain Trench, farther north and facing the Muskwa Range across the trench, are the Stikine Ranges and Omineca Mountains of the Interior Mountains system of British Columbia. A small area east of Prince George, British Columbia on the side of the Trench. In Canada geographers define three main groups of ranges, the Continental Ranges, Hart Ranges and Muskwa Ranges, the Muskwa and Hart Ranges together comprise what is known as the Northern Rockies. The western edge of the Rockies includes ranges such as the Wasatch near Salt Lake City, the Great Basin and Columbia River Plateau separate these sub-ranges from distinct ranges further to the west, most prominent among which are the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range and Coast Mountains. The Rocky Mountain System within the United States is a United States physiographic region, the Rocky Mountains are notable for containing the highest peaks in central North America. The ranges highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet above sea level, Mount Robson in British Columbia, at 12,972 feet, is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. The Continental Divide of the Americas is located in the Rocky Mountains, triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park is so named because water that falls on the mountain reaches not only the Atlantic and Pacific, but Hudson Bay as well. Farther north in Alberta, the Athabasca and other rivers feed the basin of the Mackenzie River, see Rivers of the Rocky Mountains for a list of rivers. Human population is not very dense in the Rocky Mountains, with an average of four people per square kilometer, however, the human population grew rapidly in the Rocky Mountain states between 1950 and 1990. The 40-year statewide increases in range from 35% in Montana to about 150% in Utah
Rocky Mountains
–
Moraine Lake, and the
Valley of the Ten Peaks,
Banff National Park,
Alberta,
Canada
Rocky Mountains
–
The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains near
Denver, Colorado
Rocky Mountains
–
The
Tetons are a rugged subrange in Wyoming
Rocky Mountains
–
Mount Robson in
British Columbia.
12.
Poncha Pass
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Poncha Pass is a mountain pass in South-Central Colorado. It lies between the San Luis Valley to the south and the valley of the Arkansas River to the north and it is in the saddle between the Sangre de Cristo Range, lying to the southeast, and the Sawatch Range, lying to the west and northwest. U. S. Highway 285 runs over the pass, linking the towns of Alamosa to the south, the small town of Poncha Springs lies about 6 miles north of the pass. The pass has an approach on the northern side and a moderate 5% approach from the south, though it remains open all year round. Poncha Pass lies on the border between Chaffee County and Saguache County, and on the border between the San Isabel National Forest and the Rio Grande National Forest
Poncha Pass
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Looking west at Mount Ouray from the north side of Poncha Pass before the highway curves north.
13.
Glorieta Pass
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Glorieta Pass is a mountain pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. The pass is at a location near at the southern end of the Sangre de Cristos in east central Santa Fe County southeast of the city of Santa Fe. Historically, the pass provided the most direct route through the mountains between the valley of the Pecos River to the east and the upper valley of the Rio Grande to the west. In the 19th century, it furnished the route of the westernmost leg of the Santa Fe Trail between Santa Fe and the High Plains. The Battle of Glorieta Pass, the battle of the New Mexico Campaign of the American Civil War was fought near the pass in March 1862. The battle is commemorated at Pecos National Historic Park on the east side of the pass, in the 20th century, the pass became used as the route of U. S. Highway 84 and later Interstate 25. The town of Glorieta is located on the side of the pass. The stairwells of the Colorado State Capitol Building display cannonballs from the battle as ornaments, in 1879, the New Mexico and Southern Pacific Railroad constructed a railroad through the pass, which became part of the second North American transcontinental railroad in March 1881. Now part of the BNSF system, this remains the route of Amtraks Southwest Chief, with one train each direction daily. It is one of the last places where signals are still in use on a major United States railroad. “Glorieta and Raton Passes, Gateways to the Southwest”, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places lesson plan
Glorieta Pass
–
Glorieta Battlefield Marker
14.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
–
Santa Fe is the capital of the state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of Santa Fe County and this area was occupied for at least several hundred years by indigenous peoples who built villages. The city of Santa Fe, founded by Spanish colonists in 1610, is known as the oldest state capital city in the United States, Santa Fe had a population of 69,204 in 2012. It is the city of a Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Santa Fe County and is part of the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. The citys full name when founded was La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, the area of Santa Fe was originally occupied by indigenous Tanoan peoples, who lived in numerous Pueblo villages along the Rio Grande. One of the earliest known settlements in what today is downtown Santa Fe came sometime after 900, the river had a year-round flow until the 1700s. By the 20th century the Santa Fe River was a seasonal waterway, as of 2007, the river was recognized as the most endangered river in the United States, according to the conservation group American Rivers. Don Juan de Oñate led the first European effort to colonize the region in 1598, under Juan de Oñate and his son, the capital of the province was the settlement of San Juan de los Caballeros north of Santa Fe near modern Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. In 1610, he designated it as the capital of the province, Santa Fe remained Spains provincial seat until the outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. It was considered important to fur traders based in present-day Saint Louis, when the area was still under Spanish rule, the Chouteau brothers of Saint Louis gained a monopoly on the fur trade, before the United States acquired Missouri under the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The fur trade contributed to the wealth of St. Louis, the citys status as the capital of the Mexican territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México was formalized in the 1824 Constitution after Mexico achieved independence from Spain. When the Republic of Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836, it claimed Santa Fe as part of the portion of Texas along the Rio Grande. In 1841, a military and trading expedition set out from Austin. Known as the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, the force was prepared and was easily captured by the Mexican army. In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico, brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny led the main body of his Army of the West of some 1,700 soldiers into Santa Fe to claim it and the whole New Mexico Territory for the United States. By 1848 the U. S. officially gained New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, colonel Alexander William Doniphan, under the command of Kearny, recovered ammunition from Santa Fe labeled Spain 1776. This showed that New Mexico had received munitions and other support under Mexican rule, some American visitors at first saw little promise in the remote town. One traveller in 1849 wrote, I can hardly imagine how Santa Fe is supported, the country around it is barren
Santa Fe, New Mexico
–
Santa Fe's Downtown Area
Santa Fe, New Mexico
–
Santa Fe, 1846–1847
Santa Fe, New Mexico
–
The re-construction of the St. Francis Cathedral with the plaza visible (1885)
Santa Fe, New Mexico
–
1921 Fiesta parade, Santa Fe.
Palace of the Governors in background.
15.
Fourteeners
–
In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet. Colorado has the majority of fourteeners in the contiguous United States, followed by California, climbing all of Colorados fourteeners is a popular pastime among peak baggers, another popular target is climbing all of the fourteeners in the contiguous United States. Various ski mountaineers have completed ski descents of all the Colorado fourteeners, the summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways, The topographic elevation of a summit measures the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level. The topographic prominence of a summit is a measure of how high the summit rises above its surroundings, the topographic isolation of a summit measures how far the summit lies from its nearest point of equal elevation. Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners, summits which qualify are those considered by mountaineers to be independent. Objective standards for independence include topographic prominence and isolation, or a combination of the two, however, fourteener lists do not always consistently use such objective rules. A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the contiguous United States is that a peak must have at least 300 feet of prominence to qualify, by this rule, Colorado has 53 fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has two. According to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, it is standard in Alaska to use a 500-foot prominence rule rather than a 300-foot rule, by this rule, Alaska has at least 21 peaks over 14,000 feet and its 12 highest peaks exceed 15,000 feet. The following table lists the 96 mountain peaks of the United States with at least 14,000 feet of topographic elevation, of these 96 fourteeners,53 rise in Colorado,29 in Alaska,12 in California, and two in Washington. The 22 highest fourteeners all rise in Alaska, the table above uses a minimum topographic prominence criterion of 300 feet and includes 97 peaks. The number of peaks included depends upon the minimum topographic prominence criterion, a criterion of 100 meters includes 90 peaks,500 feet includes 77 peaks,1000 feet includes 63 peaks, and 500 meters includes 46 peaks. The following U. S. summits have 14,000 feet of elevation and it is unclear why this became included on some fourteener lists. Prominence = 195–235 feet. com Peakbagger. com Peaklist. org Peakware. com Summitpost. org
Fourteeners
–
The
Maroon Bells: Maroon Peak (14,156 feet) and North Maroon Peak (14,014 feet). They are some of the most photographed peaks in Colorado and are among the most difficult "Fourteeners" to summit.
Fourteeners
–
Denali (North Peak),
Alaska
Fourteeners
–
Mount Saint Elias,
Alaska
Fourteeners
–
Mount Foraker,
Alaska
16.
Alpenglow
–
Alpenglow is an optical phenomenon in which a horizontal red glowing band is observed on the horizon opposite to the sun. This effect occurs when the Sun is just below the horizon, alpenglow is easiest to observe when mountains are illuminated but can also be observed when the sky is illuminated through backscattering. Since the Sun is below the horizon, there is no path for the light to reach the mountain. Unlike sunset or sunrise, the light that causes alpenglow is reflected off snow, water. These conditions differentiate between a normal sunrise or sunset and alpenglow, the term is generally confused to be any sunrise or sunset light seen on the mountains, but true alpenglow is not direct sunlight, and is only observed after sunset or before sunrise. This back-scattered light produces a red band opposite the Sun
Alpenglow
–
Alpenglow at sunset,
Mt. Everest, Nepal.
Alpenglow
17.
Rio Grande National Forest
–
Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million-acre U. S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the worlds largest agricultural alpine valley, the Rio Grande river rises in the forest, and the Continental Divide runs along most of its western border. The forest lies in parts of nine counties, in descending order of land area within the forest they are Saguache, Mineral, Conejos, Rio Grande, Hinsdale, San Juan, Alamosa, Archuleta, and Custer counties. Forest headquarters are located in Monte Vista, Colorado, there are local ranger district offices in Del Norte, La Jara, and Saguache. There are four designated wilderness areas lying within Rio Grande National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. All of them extend partially into neighboring National Forests, and one of these also onto National Park Service land, La Garita Wilderness Sangre de Cristo Wilderness South San Juan Wilderness Weminuche Wilderness List of largest National Forests List of U. S. National Forests Rio Grande National Forest
Rio Grande National Forest
–
Stony Pass jeep road, east of
Silverton, Colorado. Spectacular scenery along this old wagon road over Stony Pass (12,588 feet), at the edge of the
Weminuche Wilderness
Rio Grande National Forest
–
Mountains in Rio Grande National Forest in September of 2013.
Rio Grande National Forest
–
The
Continental Divide of the Americas separates the Rio Grande National Forest and the
San Juan National Forest
18.
San Isabel National Forest
–
San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the states 53 fourteeners, peaks over 14,000 feet high, including Mount Elbert and it is one of eleven national forests in the state of Colorado and contains the Sawatch Range, the Collegiate Peaks, and Sangre de Cristo Range. It has an area of 1,120,233 acres spread out over parts of eleven counties in central Colorado. In descending order of area it is located in Chaffee, Custer, Lake, Huerfano, Fremont, Pueblo, Saguache, Las Animas, Park, Costilla. San Isabel National Forest is co-managed by the Forest Service together with Pike National Forest, Cimarron National Grassland, there are local ranger district offices located in Cañon City, Leadville, and Salida. There are seven designated wilderness areas lying within San Isabel National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Four of them extend into neighboring National Forests, and of these, another one extends onto land of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
San Isabel National Forest
–
San Isabel National Forest
19.
Carson National Forest
–
Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers and is administered by the United States Forest Service, the Forest Services mixed use policy allows for its use for recreation, grazing, and resource extraction. Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico at 13,161 feet, is located in the National Forest, the forest is located mainly in Rio Arriba and Taos counties, but smaller areas extend eastward into western Mora and Colfax counties. Big game animals roam this forest and they include mule deer, elk, pronghorn, cougars, black bears, and bighorn sheep. There are also species of smaller mammals and songbirds. Forest personnel work closely with the State Game and Fish Department to provide the best wildlife habitat possible, Carson has four hundred miles of sparkling clean mountain streams and numerous lakes. Many of them are stocked with trout by the Game. The forest was inhabited by the Ancestral Pueblo people, who left ruins of adobe dwellings. Some areas of the forest were formerly lands granted to settlers by the Spanish monarchy, after the Mexican-American War, the national forest was established, and was named for American pioneer Kit Carson. Carson National Forest was established with the merger of Taos National Forest, the occupants were evicted for overstaying camping permits. In 1982, the forest grew by 405 square kilometers when the Pennzoil corporation donated the Valle Vidal Unit to the American people, within the Carson National Forest are five designated and one proposed wilderness areas. Two of these are located mostly in neighboring Santa Fe National Forest, chama River Canyon Wilderness Columbine-Hondo Wilderness Cruces Basin Wilderness Latir Peak Wilderness Pecos Wilderness Wheeler Peak Wilderness Forest headquarters are located in Taos, New Mexico. There are local district offices in Bloomfield, Canjilon, El Rito, Penasco, Questa. Carson National Forest - US Forest Service
Carson National Forest
–
Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Carson National Forest
Carson National Forest
–
Map of Carson National Forest
Carson National Forest
–
Fall colors near Tres Piedras, in the Carson National Forest
Carson National Forest
–
Wood hauler along the
Rio Pueblo, 1941. An average rural family here would use about 20 loads like this per year for fuel wood
20.
Santa Fe National Forest
–
The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected national forest in northern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. It was established in 1915 and covers 1,558,452 acres, elevations range from 5,300 feet to 13,103 feet at the summit of Truchas Peak, located within the Pecos Wilderness. In descending order of area the forest lies in parts of Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Mora. Forest headquarters are located in the city of Santa Fe, Santa Fe National Forest was established on July 1,1915 by the U. S. Forest Service with the amalgamation of Jemez National Forest to the west of Santa Fe and Pecos National Forest to the east. The former division is remembered in the districts, with the Jemez Ranger District to the west. The western districts enclose the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which is administered by Santa Fe from the Jemez district office, Bandelier National Monument was created from a portion of Santa Fe in 1916. The Coyote Ranger District is the northernmost district of the Santa Fe National Forest and it includes the Rio Chama and most of the Chama River Canyon Wilderness, as well as the northern portion of the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. The district office is in the town of Coyote, the Cuba Ranger District is in the westernmost district of the Santa Fe National Forest and is home to the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. The district includes the portion of the San Pedro Parks Wilderness. Its district office is in Cuba, the Española Ranger District extends from the foothills of Santa Fe, New Mexico to the Pecos Wilderness and borders the towns of Española, New Mexico and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Santa Fe National Forest near Los Alamos is the location of an orienteering map, the Jemez Ranger District was established in 1905 as the Jemez Forest Reserve. A number of hot springs and the Jemez Soda Dam on the Jemez River are among the attractions, along with the Dome Wilderness, the district office is in Jemez Springs. The Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District was established in 1892 as the Pecos River Forest Reserve, the easternmost element of Santa Fe National Forest includes the Pecos River lying within the Pecos Wilderness, which also extends into neighboring Carson National Forest. Its offices are in Pecos and Las Vegas, media related to Santa Fe National Forest at Wikimedia Commons Santa Fe National Forest
Santa Fe National Forest
–
Santa Fe National Forest
Santa Fe National Forest
–
A map of the Santa Fe National Forest showing the widely separated Ranger Districts.
21.
Hunting
–
Hunting is the practice of killing or trapping animals, or pursuing or tracking them with the intent of doing so. Hunting wildlife or feral animals is most commonly done by humans for food, recreation, to predators that are dangerous to humans or domestic animals. Lawful hunting is distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species. The species that are hunted are referred to as game or prey and are usually mammals, Hunting can also be a means of pest control. However, hunting has also contributed to the endangerment, extirpation and extinction of many animals. The pursuit, capture and release, or capture for food of fish is called fishing, the practice of foraging or gathering materials from plants and mushrooms is also considered separate from hunting. The word hunt serves as both a noun and a verb, the noun has been dated to the early 12th century, act of chasing game, from the verb hunt. The meaning of a body of persons associated for the purpose of hunting with a pack of hounds is first recorded in the 1570s, meaning the act of searching for someone or something is from about 1600. The verb, Old English huntian to chase game, perhaps developed from hunta hunter, is related to hentan to seize, from Proto-Germanic huntojan, the general sense of search diligently is first recorded c. Hunting has a history and may well pre-date the rise of the species Homo sapiens. Evidence from western Kenya suggests that hunting has been occurring for more two million years. Furthermore, evidence exists that hunting may have one of the multiple environmental factors leading to the Holocene extinction of megafauna. North American megafauna extinction was coincidental with the Younger Dryas impact event, however, in other locations such as Australia, humans are thought to have played a very significant role in the extinction of the Australian megafauna that was widespread prior to human occupation. The closest surviving relatives of the species are the two species of Pan, the common chimpanzee and bonobos. Common chimpanzees have a diet that includes troop hunting behaviour based on beta males being led by an alpha male. Bonobos have also observed to occasionally engage in group hunting. With the establishment of language, culture, and religion, hunting became a theme of stories and myths, as well as such as dance. Hunting was a component of hunter-gatherer societies before the domestication of livestock
Hunting
–
Boar hunting,
Tacuinum Sanitatis (a medieval handbook on health and wellbeing) (14th century)
Hunting
–
Mughal aristocrats hunting a
blackbuck alongside an
Asiatic cheetah.
Hunting
–
Saharan rock art
Hunting
–
Inuit walrus hunters
22.
Camping
–
Camping is an outdoor recreational activity involving overnight stays away from home in a shelter such as a tent, a caravan, or even a motorhome. Generally participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more natural ones in pursuit of activities providing them enjoyment, to be regarded as camping a minimum of one night is spent outdoors, distinguishing it from day-tripping, picnicking, and other similarly short-term recreational activities. Camping can be enjoyed through all four seasons, Camping as a recreational activity became popular among elites in the early 20th century. With time, it more democratic, and varied. Modern campers frequent publicly owned natural resources such as national and state parks, wilderness areas, Camping is a key part of many youth organizations around the world, such as Scouting, which use it to teach both self-reliance and teamwork. Camping describes a range of activities and approaches to outdoor accommodation, survivalist campers set off with as little as possible to get by, whereas recreational vehicle travelers arrive equipped with their own electricity, heat, and patio furniture. Camping may be combined with hiking, as in backpacking, and is enjoyed in conjunction with other outdoor activities such as canoeing, climbing, fishing. There is no universally held definition of what is and what is not camping, fundamentally, it reflects a combination of intent and the nature of activities involved. A childrens summer camp with dining hall meals and bunkhouse accommodations may have camp in its name but fails to reflect the spirit, likewise, cultures with itinerant lifestyles or lack of permanent dwellings cannot be said to be camping, it is just their way of life. The history of camping is often traced back to Thomas Hiram Holding, a British travelling tailor. By the 1880s large numbers of visitors took part in the pastime, the early camping equipment was very heavy, so it was convenient to transport it by boat or to use craft that converted into tents. Although Thomas Hiram Holding is often seen as the father of modern camping in the UK and he experienced the activity in the wild from his youth, when he had spent much time with his parents traveling across the American prairies. Later he embarked on a cycling and camping tour with friends across Ireland. He wrote The Campers Handbook in 1908, so that he could share his enthusiasm for the outdoors with the world. Possibly the first commercial camping ground in the world was Cunningham’s camp, near Douglas, Isle of Man, in 1906 the Association of Cycle Campers opened its first own camping site, in Weybridge. By that time the organization had several hundred members, in 1910 the Association was merged into the National Camping Club. Although WW1 was responsible for a hiatus in camping activity. The International Federation of Camping Clubs was founded in 1932 with national clubs from all over the world affiliating with it, by the 1960s camping had become an established family holiday standard and today camp sites are ubiqitous across Europe and North America
Camping
–
Camping in the
Kullu District of
Himachal Pradesh,
India
Camping
–
Camping in
Ontario, circa 1907
Camping
–
Thomas Hiram Holding outside his camping tent.
Camping
–
Backpackers carrying camping equipment
23.
Hiking
–
Hiking is the preferred term, in Canada and the United States, for a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails, in the countryside, while the word walking is used for shorter, particularly urban walks. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, the word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927, in New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is an activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide. In the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, a day hike refers to a hike that can be completed in a single day. However, in the United Kingdom, the walking is also used, as well as rambling. In Northern England, Including the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, fellwalking describes hill or mountain walks, hiking sometimes involves bushwhacking and is sometimes referred to as such. This specifically refers to walking through dense forest, undergrowth, or bushes. In extreme cases of bushwhacking, where the vegetation is so dense that human passage is impeded, the Australian term bushwalking refers to both on and off-trail hiking. Common terms for hiking used by New Zealanders are tramping, walking or bushwalking, trekking is the preferred word used to describe multi-day hiking in the mountainous regions of India, Pakistan, Nepal, North America, South America, Iran and in the highlands of East Africa. Hiking a long-distance trail from end-to-end is also referred to as trekking, in North America, multi-day hikes, usually with camping, are referred to as backpacking. The idea of taking a walk in the countryside for pleasure developed in the 18th-century, in earlier times walking generally indicated poverty and was also associated with vagrancy. Thomas West, an English priest, popularized the idea of walking for pleasure in his guide to the Lake District of 1778. To this end he included various stations or viewpoints around the lakes, published in 1778 the book was a major success. Another famous early exponent of walking for pleasure, was the English poet William Wordsworth, in 1790 he embarked on an extended tour of France, Switzerland, and Germany, a journey subsequently recorded in his long autobiographical poem The Prelude. His famous poem Tintern Abbey was inspired by a visit to the Wye Valley made during a tour of Wales in 1798 with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth. Wordsworths friend Coleridge was another keen walker and in the autumn of 1799, he and Wordsworth undertook a three weeks tour of the Lake District. John Keats, who belonged to the generation of Romantic poets began, in June 1818, a walking tour of Scotland, Ireland
Hiking
–
Two girls hiking in Sham valley,
Leh -
Ladakh,
India
Hiking
Hiking
–
Hiking in
Argentina.
Hiking
–
Map of
Robert Louis Stevenson 's walking route, taken from
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879), a pioneering classic of
outdoor literature.
24.
Mountain biking
–
Mountain biking is the sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability, Mountain biking can generally be broken down into multiple categories, cross country, trail riding, all mountain, downhill, freeride and dirt jumping. However, the majority of mountain biking falls into the categories of Trail and this individual sport requires endurance, core strength and balance, bike handling skills, and self-reliance. Advanced riders pursue both steep technical descents and high incline climbs, in the case of freeriding, downhilling, and dirt jumping, aerial manoeuvres are performed off both natural features and specially constructed jumps and ramps. Mountain biking can be performed almost anywhere from a yard to a gravel road. There are aspects of mountain biking that are similar to trail running than regular bicycling. Because riders are often far from civilization, there is an ethic of self-reliance in the sport. Riders learn to repair their broken bikes or flat tires to avoid being stranded miles from help, club rides and other forms of group rides are common, especially on longer treks. A combination sport named mountain bike orienteering adds the skill of map navigation to mountain biking, one of the first examples of bicycles modified specifically for off-road use is the expedition of Buffalo Soldiers from Missoula, Montana to Yellowstone in August 1896. The Swiss military had its first bike regiment in 1891, bicycles were ridden off-road by road racing cyclists who used cyclo-cross as a means of keeping fit during the winter. Cyclo-cross eventually became a sport in its own right in the 1940s, the Rough Stuff Fellowship was established in 1955 by off-road cyclists in the United Kingdom. In Oregon, one Chemeketan club member, D. Gwynn and he named it a mountain bicycle for its intended place of use. This may be the first use of that name, in England in 1968, Geoff Apps, a motorbike trials rider, began experimenting with off-road bicycle designs. By 1979 he had developed a custom built lightweight bicycle which was suited to the wet. They were designed around 2 inch x 650b Nokian snow tyres though a 700x47c version was also produced and these were sold under the Cleland Cycles brand until late 1984. Bikes based on the Cleland design were sold by English Cycles. There were several groups of riders in different areas of the U. S. A. who can make valid claims to playing a part in the birth of the sport. Riders in Crested Butte, Colorado and Cupertino, California tinkered with bikes, at the time, there were no mountain bikes
Mountain biking
–
Mountain biker riding in the Arizona desert
Mountain biking
–
US 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps, 1897
Mountain biking
–
A cross-country mountain biker climbs on an unpaved track
Mountain biking
–
Mountain bike touring in high Alps
25.
Backpacking (wilderness)
–
Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on ones back, while hiking for more than a day. It is often but not always an extended journey, and may or may not involve camping outdoors, in North America tenting is common, where simple shelters and mountain huts found widely in Europe are rare. In New Zealand, tramping is an equivalent term though overnight huts are frequently used, hill walking is the equivalent in Britain, though backpackers make use of all kinds of accommodation, in addition to camping. Backpackers use simple huts in South Africa, similar terms used in other countries are trekking and bushwalking. Backpacking as a method of travel is a different activity, which mainly utilizes public transport during a journey which can last months, backpacking is an outdoor recreation where gear is carried in a backpack. This can include food, water, bedding, shelter, clothing, stove, backpacking trips consist of at least one night and can last for weeks or months, sometimes aided by planned resupply points or drops. A skilled backpacker minimizes their impact on the environment, including staying on established trails, not disturbing vegetation, the Leave No Trace movement ethos is direct, Leave nothing but footprints. Backpackers must always be prepared for difficulties, whether mishaps are experienced or not, the remoteness of backpacking locations can exacerbate any mishap. Survival gear and the skills to use it are paramount, backpacking camps are usually more spartan than campsites where gear is transported by car or boat. In areas with heavy traffic, a hike-in campsite might have a fire ring, an outhouse. Many hike-in camps are no more than level patches of free of underbrush. In remote wilderness areas hikers must choose their own site, established camps are rare and the ethos is to leave no trace when gone. In some regions, varying forms of accommodation exist, from simple log lean-tos to staffed facilities offering escalating degrees of service, beds, meals, and even drinks may be had at Alpine huts scattered among well-traveled European mountains. In the more parts of Great Britain, especially Scotland. On the French system of long distance trails, Grande Randonnées, backpackers can stay in gîtes detapes, there are some simple shelters and occasional mountain hut also provided in North America, including on the Appalachian trail. Another example is the High Sierra Camps in the Yosemite National Park, long distance backpacking trails with huts also exist in South Africa, including the 100 km plus Amatola Trail, in the Eastern Cape Province. Backpacking is also popular in the Himalayas, where porters and pack animals are often used, backpacking gear begins with a suitable backpack, proper both in size and fit. Next is clothing and footwear appropriate for expected conditions, third is an adequate amount and type of food
Backpacking (wilderness)
–
Backpacking in the
Grand Teton National Park,
Wyoming
Backpacking (wilderness)
–
Backpacking in the
Beskid Niski mountains, in the Polish part of the
Carpathian Mountains
Backpacking (wilderness)
–
The Pocosin cabin along the
Appalachian trail in
Shenandoah National Park
Backpacking (wilderness)
–
A backpacker's modern lightweight dome tent near
Mount Anne in a
Tasmanian Wilderness area
26.
Rock climbing
–
Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Due to the length and extended endurance required and because accidents are likely to happen on descent than ascent. It is very rare for a climber to downclimb, especially on the larger multiple pitches, professional Rock climbing competitions have the objectives of either completing the route in the quickest possible time or attaining the farthest point on an increasingly difficult route. Scrambling, another activity involving the scaling of hills and similar formations, is similar to rock climbing, however, rock climbing is generally differentiated by its sustained use of hands to support the climbers weight as well as to provide balance. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climbers strength, endurance, agility and it can be a dangerous activity and knowledge of proper climbing techniques and usage of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes. Because of the range and variety of rock formations around the world. Paintings dating from 200 BC show Chinese men rock climbing China woop woop, in early America, the cliff-dwelling Anasazi in the 12th century were thought to be excellent climbers. Early European climbers used rock climbing techniques as a required to reach the summit in their mountaineering exploits. In the 1880s, European rock climbing become an independent pursuit outside of mountain climbing, Rock climbing evolved gradually from an alpine necessity to a distinct athletic activity. However, climbing techniques, equipment and ethical considerations have evolved steadily, today, free climbing, climbing using holds made entirely of natural rock while using gear solely for protection and not for upward movement, is the most popular form of the sport. Free climbing has since divided into several sub-styles of climbing dependent on belay configuration. Over time, grading systems have also created in order to compare more accurately the relative difficulties of the rock climbs. In How to Rock Climb, John Long notes that for moderately skilled climbers simply getting to the top of a route is not enough, in rock climbing, style refers to the method of ascending the cliff. There are three styles of climbing, on-sight, flash, and redpoint. To on-sight a route is to ascend the wall without aid or any foreknowledge and it is considered the way to climb with the most style. Flashing is similar to on-sighting, except that the climber has previous information about the route including talking about the beta with other climbers, redpointing means to make a free ascent of the route after having first tried it. Free climbing is typically divided into styles that differ from one another depending on the choice of equipment used
Rock climbing
–
Tom Frost,
Royal Robbins,
Chuck Pratt, and
Yvon Chouinard on the summit of
El Capitan, 1964
Rock climbing
–
A rock climber
Rock climbing
–
Climbing in Germany, circa 1965. Note the lack of intermediate protection points and the potentially unsafe tie-in method, which demonstrate the maxim of the day: "The leader must not fall."
Rock climbing
–
Bouldering in
Joshua Tree National Park,
United States.
27.
Cross-country skiing
–
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is practiced as a sport and recreational activity, however. Variants of cross-country skiing are adapted to a range of terrain which spans unimproved, modern cross-country skiing is similar to the original form of skiing, from which all skiing disciplines evolved, including alpine skiing, ski jumping and Telemark skiing. Skiers propel themselves either by striding forward or side-to-side in a skating motion and it is practised in regions with snow-covered landscapes, including Northern Europe, Canada, Russia and regions in the United States. Competitive cross-country skiing is one of the Nordic skiing sports, Cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship are the two components of biathlon, ski-orienteering is a form of cross-country skiing, which includes map navigation along snow trails and tracks. The word ski comes from the Old Norse word skíð which means stick of wood, Skiing started as a technique for traveling cross-country over snow on skis, starting almost five millennia ago with beginnings in Scandinavia. It may have practised as early as 600 BCE in Daxinganling. Early historical evidence includes Procopius description of Sami people as skrithiphinoi translated as ski running samis, birkely argues that the Sami people have practiced skiing for more than 6000 years, evidenced by the very old Sami word čuoigat for skiing. Egil Skallagrimssons 950 CE saga describes King Haakon the Goods practice of sending his tax collectors out on skis, the Gulating law stated that No moose shall be disturbed by skiers on private land. Cross-country skiing evolved from a means of transportation to being a world-wide recreational activity and sport. Early skiers used one long pole or spear in addition to the skis, the first depiction of a skier with two ski poles dates to 1741. This combination has a long history among the Sami people, skis up to 280 cm have been produced in Finland, and the longest recorded ski in Norway is 373 cm. Ski warfare, the use of ski-equipped troops in war, is first recorded by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in the 13th century and these troops were reportedly able to cover distances comparable to that of light cavalry. The garrison in Trondheim used skis at least from 1675, skis were used in military exercises in 1747. In 1799 French traveller Jacques de la Tocnaye recorded his visit to Norway in his travel diary, Norwegian immigrant Snowshoe Thompson transported mail by skiing across the Sierra Nevada between California and Nevada from 1856. In 1888 Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his team crossed the Greenland icecap on skis, Norwegian workers on the Buenos Aires - Valparaiso railway line introduced skiing in South America around 1890. In 1910 Roald Amundsen used skis on his South Pole Expedition, in 1902 the Norwegian consul in Kobe imported ski equipment and introduced skiing to the Japanese, motivated by the death of Japanese soldiers during a snow storm. An early record of a ski competition occurred in Tromsø,1843
Cross-country skiing
–
Cross-country skiers in western Norway.
Cross-country skiing
–
Depiction of loyal retainers transporting
Prince Haakon IV of Norway to safety on skis during the winter of 1206.
Cross-country skiing
–
German
Reichswehr military patrol on skis training in the
Giant Mountains, 1932.
Cross-country skiing
–
Michal Malák skate-skis at a qualifier for the
Tour de Ski, 2007.
28.
Downhill skiing
–
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the sport or recreation of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. It is typically practiced at ski resorts which provide such as ski lifts, artificial snow making and grooming, first aid. Back-country skiers use alpine skiing equipment to ski off the marked pistes, in cases with the assistance of snowmobiles. Alpine skiing has been an event at the Winter Olympic Games since 1936, as of 1994, there were estimated to be 55 million people worldwide, who engaged in Alpine skiing. Approximately 30 million of these were in Europe,15 million in the US, as of 1996, there were reportedly 4,500 ski areas, operating 26,000 ski lifts and enjoying skier visits. The preponderant region for downhills skiing was Europe, followed by Japan, a skier following the fall line will reach the maximum possible speed for that slope. A skier with skis pointed perpendicular to the line, across the hill instead of down it. The speed of descent down any given hill can be controlled by changing the angle of motion in relation to the fall line, downhill skiing technique focuses on the use of turns to smoothly turn the skis from one direction to another. Good technique results in a motion from one descent angle to another one. This looks more like a series of Ss than turns followed by straight sections. The oldest and still form of alpine ski turn is the stem. In doing so, the ski pushes snow forward and to the side, the force backwards directly counteracts gravity, and slows the skier. The force to the sides, if unbalanced, will cause the skier to turn, carving is based on the shape of the ski itself, when the ski is rotated onto its edge, the pattern cut into its side causes it to bend into an arc. The contact between the arc of the ski edges and the snow naturally causes the ski to tend to move along that arc, slowing the skier, modern alpine skis are shaped to enable carve turning, and have evolved significantly since the 1980s. During the 1930s, the Kandahar binding was introduced, which could be locked down at the heel for the downhill portions, the Kandahar remained in widespread use until the 1960s. As more skiers took up the sport, especially in the 1950s, dr. Richard Spademan saw 150 spiral fractures pass through his emergency department near Squaw Valley in three days, an event that led to the development of the Spademan binding. By the early 1950s, several safety bindings were on the market allowed the ski to come off when the ski twisted to the side. This helped reduce the incidence of spiral fractures, originally boots were cut low, just over the ankle, and soft laterally, both of which limited the amount of sideways rotating force that could be applied
Downhill skiing
–
Andrej Šporn at the
2010 Winter Olympics downhill in a typical downhill body position
Downhill skiing
–
Austrian Downhill racing suit
29.
Pecos Wilderness
–
The Pecos Wilderness is a protected wilderness area within the Santa Fe National Forest and Carson National Forest. The Pecos Wilderness lies within the Camino Real Ranger District of the Carson National Forest, the Pecos Wilderness includes the southernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains in the sub-range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of north central New Mexico. One trail head for the wilderness is only 15 miles by road from Santa Fe, covering an area of 223,667 acres it is the second largest wilderness in the state after the Gila Wilderness. An area of less than 200,000 acres was given protection by Congress in 1964. Congress protected an additional 55,000 acres in 1980, Wilderness Areas do not allow motorized or mechanized vehicles, including bicycles. Camping and fishing are allowed with permit, but no roads, buildings, logging. Wilderness areas within National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas allow hunting in season, Forest service page about Pecos Wilderness
Pecos Wilderness
–
Nambe Lake at an elevation of 11.402 feet.
Pecos Wilderness
Pecos Wilderness
–
Truchas Peaks from
Espanola in winter. The Truchas peaks are the highest mountains in the Pecos Wilderness.
Pecos Wilderness
–
A map of the Pecos Wilderness area and its vicinity.
30.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
–
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a United States National Park located in the San Luis Valley, in the easternmost parts of Alamosa County and Saguache County, Colorado, United States. Originally created as Great Sand Dunes National Monument on March 17,1932, Great Sand Dunes National Park, the park includes 44,246 acres, and the preserve protects an additional 41,686 acres. Researchers say that the dunes started forming less than 440,000 years ago, the dunes were formed from sand and soil deposits of the Rio Grande and its tributaries, flowing through the San Luis Valley. Over the ages, glaciers feeding the river and the vast lake that existed upon the valley melted, westerly winds picked up sand particles from the lake and river flood plain. As the wind lost power before crossing the Sangre de Cristo Range and this process continues, and the dunes are slowly growing. The wind changes the shape of the dunes daily, there are several streams flowing on the perimeter of the dunes. The streams erode the edge of the field, and sand is carried downstream. The water disappears into the ground, depositing sand on the surface, winds pick up the deposits of sand, and blow them up onto the dune field once again. Digging a couple inches into the even at their peaks reveals wet sand. Part of the motivation of turning the Monument into a National Park was the protection of the water. It is very easy to experience the dune-building process and this is a very windy region, as hikers on the Sand Dunes will attest, as on many days they will be pelted by sand and even small rocks when hiking on the dunes. The wind carries sand and rocks from many miles away, while the dunes dont change location or size that often, there are still parabolic dunes that start in the sand sheet, the outer area around the dunes, and migrate towards the main dune field. Sometimes they join the main field, and sometimes they will get covered with grass and vegetation. The dunes are relatively stable, however, their morphology changes slightly with the seasons, the direction of the wind greatly affects the dune type. The winds normally go from southwest to northeast, however, during the summer months. This wind regime is part of the reason why the dunes are so tall, the dunes contain areas of black sand which are deposits of magnetite, a crystalline black oxide of iron. The Great Sand Dunes sit on an area of High Desert land in the San Luis Valley. The summer temperatures of this area are not typical of high desert lands although temperatures above 95 °F are not uncommon in July
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
–
Great Sand Dunes and Mount Herard
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
–
Satellite image of the dunes
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
–
Aerial View of the Great Sand Dunes from the southwest, looking across the
Sangre de Cristo Range. Winter 2015, a dry year.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
–
The intermittent Medano Creek
31.
Rio Grande Rift
–
The Rio Grande Rift is a north-trending continental rift zone. It separates the Colorado Plateau in the west from the interior of the North American craton on the east, the rift extends from central Colorado in the north to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico in the south. The rift zone consists of four basins that have a width of 50 kilometers. The rift can be observed on location at Rio Grande National Forest, White Sands National Monument, Santa Fe National Forest, the Rio Grande Rift has been an important site for humans for a long time, because it provides a north-south route that follows a major river. The Rio Grande follows the course of the rift from southern Colorado to El Paso, important cities, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Española, Las Cruces, El Paso, and Ciudad Juárez lie within the rift. The Rio Grande Rift represents the easternmost manifestation of widespread extension in the western U. S. during the past 35 million years, the rift consists of three major basins and many smaller basins, less than 100 km2. The three major basins are the San Luis, Española, and Albuquerque basins, further south, the rift is defined by a network of smaller, less topographically distinct alternating basins and ranges. The distinction between these basins and those of the Basin and Range Province becomes blurred in northern Mexico. Basin size generally decreases to the north in the rift, where the Española covers approximately 120 km north-south and 40 km east-west, the Albuquerque basin is the largest of the three basins, spanning 160 km north-south and 86 km east-west at its widest points. It is the oldest of the three basins, and contains 7,350 m of Paleogene clastic sediments deposited on Precambrian basement. The southernmost Albuquerque basin contains pre-rift volcanic deposits, while the central, the southernmost Rio Grande Rift broadens, becoming more complex in structure and physiographically indistinguishable from the adjoining Basin and Range province. In cross-section, the geometry of the basins within the rift are asymmetrical half-grabens, with major fault boundaries on one side, which side of the basin has the major fault or the hinge alternates along the rift. The alternation between these half-grabens occurs along transfer faults, which trend across the rift to connect the major basin-bounding faults, flanking mountains are generally taller along the east side of the rift. The thickness of the crust increases to the north beneath the rift, the crustal thickness underneath the rift is on average 30–35 km, thinner by 10–15 km than the Colorado Plateau on the west and the Great Plains to the east. The rift is presently nearly tectonically quiescent, but significant deformation and this extension is associated with very low seismic velocities in the upper mantle above approximately 400 km depth associated with relatively hot mantle and low degrees of partial melting. This intrusion of the asthenosphere into the lithosphere and continental crust is thought to be responsible for all of the volcanism associated with the Rio Grande rift. The sedimentary fill of the basins consists largely of alluvial fan, the most alkalic lavas erupted outside the rift. The sediments that were deposited during rifting are commonly known as the Santa Fe Group and this group contains sandstones, conglomerates, and volcanics
Rio Grande Rift
–
Deep seismic image of the Rio Grande rift compiled from the seismic transect shown in the previous figure, showing inferred mantle flow and imaged crust-mantle (
Moho) topography (after Wilson et al.)(2005).
Rio Grande Rift
–
Locality map showing the Rio Grande Rift extending from southern Colorado to Chihuahua, Mexico. The
Rio Grande follows this rift for much of its course.
Rio Grande Rift
–
Seismic profile from the Rio Grande Rift Seismic Transect (RISTRA) experiment crossing the rift system, with
Cenozoic extended terrain of the rift and southern Great Basin tectonic provinces indicated.
32.
Walsenburg, Colorado
–
The City of Walsenburg is a Statutory City that is the county seat and the most populous city of Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,068 at the 2010 census, Robert Ford, the assassin of outlaw Jesse James, operated a combination saloon and gambling house in Walsenburg, his home at 320 West 7th Street still stands. A post office called Walsenburg has been in operation since 1870, the community was named after Fred Walsen, an early settler. Walsenburg is mentioned in the famous Woody Guthrie song, Ludlow Massacre, some two dozen people, including women and children, were killed. The town is remembered in sports history due to a famous newspaper gaffe after the 1933 Indianapolis 500. According to the United States Census Bureau, Walsenburg has an area of 2.3 square miles. The Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center is located two miles west of Walsenburg on US160, opposite the entrance to Lathrop State Park, inside the building, there are a state-operated veterans retirement home and a community hospital that serves the area. Lathrop State Park, located 2 miles west of the city limits of Walsenburg, is the State of Colorados first State Park and is over 1,600 acres in size. The nearby Spanish Peaks are a landmark and named one of Colorados Seven Wonders by the Denver Post. The City opened a two-million dollar water park, Walsenburg Wild Waters after efforts by former mayor Maurice Brau, the Huerfano River Wind Farm, Colorados largest producer of distributed generation power, is located ten miles north of Walsenburg, just off of Interstate 25. The farm uses Sany-made turbines and feeds into the San Isabel Electric Association grid and it is owned by Tamra-Tacoma Capital Partners, a New York-based investment firm. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,182 people,1,497 households, the population density was 1,795.2 people per square mile. There were 1,723 housing units at a density of 739.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 74. 99% White,4. 78% African American,3. 35% Native American,0. 41% Asian,0. 07% Pacific Islander,12. 46% from other races, and 3. 95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 50. 96% of the population,37. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 19. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the family size was 2.95. In the city, the population was out with 20. 9% under the age of 18,9. 3% from 18 to 24,31. 1% from 25 to 44,21. 2% from 45 to 64. The median age was 38 years, for every 100 females there were 133.1 males
Walsenburg, Colorado
–
The Huerfano County Courthouse is located in Walsenburg.
Walsenburg, Colorado
–
Walsenburg shooting at the Walsenburg Industrial Workers of the World Hall on January 28, 1928
33.
San Luis Valley
–
The valley is a section of the Rio Grande Rift and is drained to the south by the Rio Grande, which rises in the San Juan Mountains to the west of the valley and flows south into New Mexico. The valley is approximately 122 miles long and 74 miles wide, the San Luis Valley receives little precipitation and is made up of desert lands, but the temperatures can be very comfortable in the summer and very cold on winter nights. The San Luis Valley is the broad, generally flat, valley at the headwaters of the Rio Grande in south central Colorado, the northern portion of the San Luis Valley is an endorheic basin, which is to say that surface water does not exit this area. The southern portion is drained by the Rio Grande, there is no clear southern boundary but the term is generally used to include the San Luis Hills of southern Colorado and the Taos Plateau of northern New Mexico. About 50 miles from east to west and about 150 miles from north to south, within Colorado the San Luis Valley is generally considered to comprise six Colorado counties, Saguache, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Conejos, Costilla and Mineral. A few other counties of Colorado have some land in the Rio Grande Basin including Archuleta County, Hinsdale County, Blanca Peak is prominent in the Sierra Blanca at the southern end of the northernmost section of the mountains, which is known as the Sangre de Cristo Range. There are several passes, with elevations between 9,000 and 10,000 feet, giving access to the valley. North La Veta Pass, through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is used by U. S. Highway 160 and by the San Luis, other passes used historically were Medano, Mosca and Sangre de Cristo Passes. The Great Sand Dunes is a feature of the valley. It lies directly to the west of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the dunes can reach 750 feet high. The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is now in place to both the dunes and the numerous archeological sites found in the area. The natural valley aquifer is close to the surface in part of the valley. Elevation rises as you go north in the valley to Poncha Pass, used now by U. S. Highway 285 and historically by the narrow tracks of the Denver. Cumbres Pass is a 10,015 ft. pass between Antonito, Colorado and Chama, New Mexico, the pass is traversed by State Highway 17 and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. Stony Pass, sometimes spelled Stoney Pass, a wagon road to the mining camps of the San Juans, is now a jeep trail. At the north end of the valley, North Pass is the route of State Highway 114 between Saguache, Colorado and Gunnison, Colorado, bypassing the route over Cochetopa Pass. The Rio Grande follows a course through the valley from Del Norte southeastward via Alamosa to New Mexico. South of Alamosa it is joined by several streams from the west including the Alamosa River, most of the northern valley is an endorheic basin called the San Luis Closed Basin
San Luis Valley
–
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado sits directly west of the Sangre de Cristo Range, which is featured in the background.
San Luis Valley
–
Typical
greasewood "chico brush" in the
San Luis Closed Basin of the northern San Luis Valley in Colorado. Taken just south of the bridge over La Garita Creek on
Highway 17 between Hooper and Moffat, Colorado. View is to the southeast. The Great Sand Dunes are in the background as are the Sangre De Cristo Range. Medano and Mosca Passes are the low points, the Sierra Blanca is to the right.
San Luis Valley
–
Map of the proposed
San Luis Valley Conservation Area showing federal, state, and protected land use
34.
Arkansas River
–
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the US states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and it then flows east into the Midwest via Kansas, and finally into the South through Oklahoma and Arkansas. At 1,469 miles, it is the sixth-longest river in the United States, the second-longest tributary in the Mississippi–Missouri system, and its origin is in the Rocky Mountains in Lake County, Colorado, near Leadville. In 1859, placer gold discovered in the Leadville area brought thousands seeking to strike it rich, the Arkansas Rivers mouth is at Napoleon, Arkansas, and its drainage basin covers nearly 170,000 sq mi. In terms of volume, the river is smaller than the Missouri and Ohio Rivers. The Arkansas from its headwaters to the 100th meridian west formed part of the US-Mexico border from the Adams–Onís Treaty until the Texas Annexation or Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Arkansas has three distinct sections in its long path through central North America. At its headwaters, the Arkansas runs as a steep fast-flowing mountain river through the Rockies in its narrow valley and this section supports extensive whitewater rafting, including The Numbers, Browns Canyon, and the Royal Gorge. At Cañon City, Colorado, the Arkansas River valley widens and flattens markedly, just west of Pueblo, Colorado, the river enters the Great Plains. Through the rest of Colorado, Kansas, and much of Oklahoma, it is a typical Great Plains riverway, with wide, shallow banks subject to seasonal flooding, tributaries include the Cimarron River and the Salt Fork Arkansas River. In eastern Oklahoma the river begins to widen further into a more contained consistent channel, the river valley then expands as it encounters much flatter land beginning just west of Little Rock, Arkansas. It continues eastward across the plains and forests of eastern Arkansas until it flows into the Mississippi River. Important cities along the Arkansas River include Pueblo, Colorado, Garden City, Kansas, Wichita, Kansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. The I-40 bridge disaster of May 2002 took place on I-40s crossing of Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma. The problems over the possession and use of Arkansas River water by Colorado, while Congress approved the Arkansas River Compact in 1949, the compact did not stop further disputes by the two states over water rights to the river. The Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Basin Compact was created in 1965 to promote mutual consideration and it led to the Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission, which was charged with administering the compact and reducing pollution. The compact was approved and implemented by states in 1970, and has been in force since then. Through Oklahoma and Arkansas, dams artificially deepen and widen the river to build it into a navigable body of water. Many nations of Native Americans lived near, or along, the 1, the first Europeans to see the river were members of the Spanish Coronado expedition on June 29,1541
Arkansas River
–
The lower part of the Arkansas River near
Little Rock, Arkansas
Arkansas River
–
The Arkansas River flows through Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, and its watershed also drains parts of Texas, New Mexico and Missouri.
Arkansas River
–
The headwaters of the Arkansas near
Leadville, Colorado
Arkansas River
–
Drought can reduce the Arkansas River so much, trees along the river cannot survive.
35.
Crestones
–
Climbers can expect afternoon rain, hail, and lightning from the seasonal monsoon in late July and August. For climbing details, see the individual articles, and their references therein. Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are rock scrambles with some exposure, Kit Carson Mountain is a walk-up, but only if the correct route is carefully followed, it has claimed more lives than Crestone Peak or Crestone Needle. Challenger Point and Columbia Point are sub-peaks of Kit Carson Mountain, Humboldt Peak is the easiest of the four, with a straightforward walk-up route. Sometimes Humboldt is not included in the term The Crestones, Broken Hand Peak,13,573 ft, southeast of Crestone Needle, is included within the official name Crestone Peaks. Mount Adams is a peak just to the north of the Crestones. Note that Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle are somewhat more technical climbs than many Colorado fourteeners, about one person per year is killed on the Crestones, occasionally, they are skilled mountaineers. S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, Crestone Peaks or Crestone Group Well illustrated trip report of climbs of Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak via Broken Hand Pass
Crestones
–
Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle seen from the south
36.
Fourteener
–
In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least 14,000 feet. Colorado has the majority of fourteeners in the contiguous United States, followed by California, climbing all of Colorados fourteeners is a popular pastime among peak baggers, another popular target is climbing all of the fourteeners in the contiguous United States. Various ski mountaineers have completed ski descents of all the Colorado fourteeners, the summit of a mountain or hill may be measured in three principal ways, The topographic elevation of a summit measures the height of the summit above a geodetic sea level. The topographic prominence of a summit is a measure of how high the summit rises above its surroundings, the topographic isolation of a summit measures how far the summit lies from its nearest point of equal elevation. Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners, summits which qualify are those considered by mountaineers to be independent. Objective standards for independence include topographic prominence and isolation, or a combination of the two, however, fourteener lists do not always consistently use such objective rules. A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the contiguous United States is that a peak must have at least 300 feet of prominence to qualify, by this rule, Colorado has 53 fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has two. According to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, it is standard in Alaska to use a 500-foot prominence rule rather than a 300-foot rule, by this rule, Alaska has at least 21 peaks over 14,000 feet and its 12 highest peaks exceed 15,000 feet. The following table lists the 96 mountain peaks of the United States with at least 14,000 feet of topographic elevation, of these 96 fourteeners,53 rise in Colorado,29 in Alaska,12 in California, and two in Washington. The 22 highest fourteeners all rise in Alaska, the table above uses a minimum topographic prominence criterion of 300 feet and includes 97 peaks. The number of peaks included depends upon the minimum topographic prominence criterion, a criterion of 100 meters includes 90 peaks,500 feet includes 77 peaks,1000 feet includes 63 peaks, and 500 meters includes 46 peaks. The following U. S. summits have 14,000 feet of elevation and it is unclear why this became included on some fourteener lists. Prominence = 195–235 feet. com Peakbagger. com Peaklist. org Peakware. com Summitpost. org
Fourteener
–
The
Maroon Bells: Maroon Peak (14,156 feet) and North Maroon Peak (14,014 feet). They are some of the most photographed peaks in Colorado and are among the most difficult "Fourteeners" to summit.
Fourteener
–
Denali (North Peak),
Alaska
Fourteener
–
Mount Saint Elias,
Alaska
Fourteener
–
Mount Foraker,
Alaska
37.
Crestone, Colorado
–
The Town of Crestone is a Statutory Town in Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 127 at the 2010 United States Census and it is a small village at the foot of the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range, in the northern part of the San Luis Valley. Crestone was a mining town, but little paying ore was discovered. In the 1970s, a land development, the Baca Grande, was established to the south and west. Crestone is easily accessible to visitors, a National Forest Service campground is about 3/4 of a north of town. Activities in the area include camping, fishing, hiking, climbing, Crestone is named for the 14, 000-foot peaks that lie just east of the town, Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle. The first settlement in the Crestone area occurred after the American Civil War with the granting of the Luis Maria Baca Grant No.4 to the heirs of the original Baca Grant at Las Vegas, New Mexico. Title to the grant at Las Vegas was clouded by a grant of the same land. The Baca heirs were offered alternative lands from the lands of the United States. The square tract selected is 12.5 miles on a side south of Saguache County Road T south of Crestone, the Bacas deeded the land to their attorney, but it soon passed by tax sale to a third party. The ranch headquarters were on Crestone Creek to the southwest of Crestone, the Baca Grant was one of the first large tracts of land to be fenced in the West and in its heyday was the home of prize Hereford cattle. In addition to ranching there was mining in the area to the east. In 1880 the town of Crestone was platted by George Adams, however, lacking good ore, the boom was short-lived. A long period of decline followed, by 1948 Crestone had declined to its post-war population of 40, mostly retirees and cowboys who worked on the Grant, as the Baca Grant was called. Many of the old cabins were used as vacation homes, by 1971 the Baca Grant came into the ownership of a corporation which subdivided a portion of the Grant, creating the Baca Grande, a subdivision originally platted for about 10,000 lots. At great expense, underground utilities were installed and roads built, however, sales lagged and by 1979 the development was considered a liability by the corporation. Maurice Strong, owner of a controlling interest and his fiancée, Hanne Marstrand, visited the development and they were inspired to create a world spiritual center and began granting parcels of land to traditional spiritual organizations. The population gradually began to increase and by 2006 several hundred homes had been built, Crestone is located near the 38th parallel, in the San Luis Valley in south central Colorado
Crestone, Colorado
–
Chatting on Galena Avenue
Crestone, Colorado
–
Location in
Saguache County and the
state of Colorado
Crestone, Colorado
–
Passive solar building near Crestone
Crestone, Colorado
–
Little Shepherd of the Hills
Episcopal Mission
38.
West Spanish Peak
–
West Spanish Peak is a high and prominent mountain summit that is the higher of the two Spanish Peaks in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The summit of West Spanish Peak is the highest point in Las Animas County, the Spanish Peaks are two large igneous stocks which form an eastern outlier of the Culebra Range, a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. West Spanish Peak is the easternmost 4000 meter mountain peak in the United States, due to its position well east of the Culebra Range and on the edge of the eastern plains of Colorado, West Spanish Peak enjoys great local vertical relief in almost all directions. For example, it rises over 6,000 ft in less than 6.5 miles on both its north and south flanks, though not a fourteener, West Spanish Peak is the twelfth most topographically prominent peak in the state. While the Spanish Peaks have the appearance of volcanic cones, they are actually stocks and they are surrounded by radiating dikes, up to 14 miles long, made of the same material. The standard ascent route for West Spanish Peak starts at Cordova Pass and it follows a trail for about 2 miles to treeline. From there, theres a path on talus up the southwest ridge of the peak for an additional 1.5 miles. The trail is very braided and has a tendency to go to the right, if climbers stay to the left and close to the ridge, the climbing is much easier. At about 13,000 is a large shale buttress to the right that usually has a pool of warm water at its foot. Once up on the part of the top ridge, its an easy hike to the actual summit. The top ridge tends to be 30–100 feet wide and is about 0.5 miles long before beginning a significant downward trend on the east side of the mountain, to the north and south are very steep descents. At the summit is a rock cairn with the usual PVC tube. This mountain is very unsafe when there is snow on the ground, best time to climb, early June through late October. Thunderstorm and lightning activity can be high in July, August, List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of the United States List of mountain peaks of Colorado List of Colorado county high points West Spanish Peak on Summitpost
West Spanish Peak
–
West Spanish Peak from the south
West Spanish Peak
–
Igneous dikes, looking north from West Spanish Peak.
39.
East Spanish Peak
–
East Spanish Peak is a prominent mountain summit that is the lower of the two Spanish Peaks in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The Spanish Peaks are two large igneous stocks which form an eastern outlier of the Culebra Range, a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, East Spanish Peak is higher than any point in the United States east of its longitude. While the Spanish Peaks have the appearance of volcanic cones, they are actually stocks and they are surrounded by radiating dikes, up to 14 miles long, made of the same material. The standard ascent route for East Spanish Peak ascends the west ridge of the peak from the saddle between it and West Spanish Peak, a trail ascends to the saddle from the north side of the peaks
East Spanish Peak
–
East (left) and West (right) Spanish Peaks
40.
Huerfano County, Colorado
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Huerfano County is one of the 64 counties in the U. S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,711, the county, whose name comes from the Spanish huérfano meaning orphan, was named for the Huerfano Butte, a local landmark. The area of Huerfano County boomed early in the 1900s with the discovery of coal deposits. After large scale World War II coal demand ended in the 1940s Walsenburg, other attractions include historic coal mine sites, majestic mountain hiking and mountain biking. Huerfano County was one of the original 17 counties created by the Territory of Colorado on November 1,1861, on November 2,1870, the Colorado General Assembly created Greenwood County from former Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal land and the eastern portion of Huerfano County. There are countless reports of vast New Spain and Native American gold treasures that lay hidden in the hills, two Spanish forts were located in Huerfano County. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,593 square miles. The price of property saw an increase of more than 10% after a moratorium on commercial marijuana grows was lifted in July 2015, the Huerfano River Wind Farm, Colorados largest producer of distributed generation power, is located ten miles north of Walsenburg, just off of Interstate 25. The farm uses Sany-made turbines and feeds into the San Isabel Electric Association grid and it is owned by Tamra-Tacoma Capital Partners, a New York-based investment firm. As you travel into Huerfano County from the North you will see the Spanish Peaks loom larger and larger, travelers will pass a series of US flags along Interstate 25 which mark the boundary of Crown Valley Ranch. Visitors can shop in the small town antique and novelty shops along Walsenburgs downtown. The second Wednesday of each month at 6,00 pm The Colorado Cannabis Growers Association holds top of industry special guest speakers and these speakers outline various topics regarding the legal marijuana industry. During summer months guests can enjoy various hip music events including Sonic Bloom, Gardner is located on scenic Highway of Love or State Highway 69. Dont miss the wonderful food at the Wildflower Cafe in downtown Gardner, the population density was 5 people per square mile. There were 4,599 housing units at a density of 3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 80. 96% White,2. 75% Black or African American,2. 70% Native American,0. 39% Asian,0. 08% Pacific Islander,9. 41% from other races, and 3. 71% from two or more races. 35. 14% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,32. 80% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the family size was 2.85
Huerfano County, Colorado
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Huerfano County Courthouse and Jail
Huerfano County, Colorado
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Bighorn sheep ewes with the
West Spanish Peak, Huerfano County
Huerfano County, Colorado
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Eastern
Sangre de Cristo Range, Huerfano County
41.
National Natural Landmark
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The National Natural Landmarks Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in both public and private ownership, the program was established on May 18,1962, by United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. The program aims to encourage and support voluntary preservation of sites that illustrate the geological and ecological history of the United States and it also hopes to strengthen the publics appreciation of the countrys natural heritage. As of November 2016,599 sites have been added to the National Registry of National Landmarks, the registry includes nationally significant geological and ecological features in 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The National Park Service administers the NNL Program and if requested, land acquisition by the federal government is not a goal of this program. National Natural Landmarks are nationally significant sites owned by a variety of land stewards, the legislative authority for the National Natural Landmarks Program stems from the Historic Sites Act of August 21,1935, the program is governed by federal regulations. The NNL Program does not have the features of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Thus, designation of a National Natural Landmark presently constitutes only an agreement with the owner to preserve, insofar as possible, administration and preservation of National Natural Landmarks is solely the owners responsibility. Either party may terminate the agreement after they notify the other, the UKs Site of Special Scientific Interest list is a rough equivalent. The NNL designation is made by the Secretary of the Interior after in-depth scientific study of a potential site, all new designations must have owner concurrence. The selection process is rigorous, to be considered for NNL status, since establishment of the NNL program, a multi-step process has been used to designate a site for NNL status. Since 1970, the steps have constituted the process. A natural area inventory of a region is completed to identify the most promising sites. After landowners are notified that the site is being considered for NNL status, the evaluation report is peer reviewed by other experts to assure its soundness. The report is reviewed further by National Park Service staff, the site is reviewed by the Secretary of the Interiors National Park Advisory Board to determine that the site qualifies as an NNL. The findings are provided to the Secretary of the Interior who approves or declines, landowners are notified a third time informing them that the site has been designated an NNL. Each major natural history theme can be subdivided into various sub-themes. The NNL program does not require designated properties to be owned by public entities, lands under almost all forms of ownership or administration have been designated—federal, state, local, municipal and private
National Natural Landmark
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The
Trona Pinnacles with National Natural Landmark sign
National Natural Landmark
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Shiprock National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
42.
Dike (geology)
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A dike or dyke, in geological usage, is a sheet of rock that formed in a fracture in a pre-existing rock body. Dikes can be either magmatic or sedimentary in origin, magmatic dikes form when magma intrudes into a crack then crystallizes as a sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through an unlayered mass of rock. Clastic dikes are formed when sediment fills a pre-existing crack, an intrusive dike is an igneous body with a very high aspect ratio, which means that its thickness is usually much smaller than the other two dimensions. Thickness can vary from sub-centimeter scale to many meters, and the dimensions can extend over many kilometres. A dike is an intrusion into an opening cross-cutting fissure, shouldering aside other pre-existing layers or bodies of rock, near-horizontal, or conformable intrusions, along bedding planes between strata are called intrusive sills. Sometimes dikes appear in swarms, consisting of several to hundreds of dikes emplaced more or less contemporaneously during a single intrusive event, the worlds largest dike swarm is the Mackenzie dike swarm in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Dikes often form as either radial or concentric swarms around plutonic intrusives, the latter are known as ring dikes. Pegmatite dikes comprise extremely coarse crystalline granitic rocks - often associated with granite intrusions or metamorphic segregations. Aplite dikes are fine-grained or sugary-textured intrusives of granitic composition, in contrast to magmatic dikes, a sill is a magmatic sheet intrusion that forms within and parallel to the bedding of layered rock. Sedimentary dikes or clastic dikes are vertical bodies of rock that cut off other rock layers. Driven by the pressure the sediment breaks through overlying layers. When a soil is under permafrost conditions the water is totally frozen. When cracks are formed in rocks, they may fill up with sediments that fall in from above. The result is a body of sediment that cuts through horizontal layers. Batholith Ring dike Fissure vent Laccolith Runamo, formerly interpreted as a runic inscription
Dike (geology)
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Banded
gneiss with dike of granite orthogneiss.
Dike (geology)
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Dikes on the south coast of the
Isle of Arran (Scotland)
Dike (geology)
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An intrusion (
Notch Peak monzonite) inter-fingers (partly as a dike) with highly metamorphosed host rock (
Cambrian carbonate rocks). From near Notch Peak,
House Range,
Utah.
Dike (geology)
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Shiprock,
New Mexico, the volcanic neck in the distance, with radiating dike on its south side. Photo credit:
USGS Digital Data Series
43.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in the east central portion of the state and it is situated on Fountain Creek and is located 60 miles south of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. At 6,035 feet the city stands over 1 mile above sea level, Colorado Springs is situated near the base of one of the most famous American mountains, Pikes Peak, rising above 14,000 feet on the eastern edge of the Southern Rocky Mountains. The city is home to 24 national governing bodies of sport, the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic Training Center. The city had an population of 456,568 in 2015, ranking as the second most populous city in the state of Colorado, behind Denver. The Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an population of 712,327 in 2016. The city covers 194.9 square miles, making it the most extensive municipality in Colorado, Colorado Springs was ranked number five by U. S. News & World Report on the list of 2016 Best Places to Live in the USA. The Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne peoples were the first to inhabit the area which would become Colorado Springs, part of the territory included in the United States 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the current city area was designated part of the 1854 Kansas Territory. In 1859, after the first local settlement was established, it part of the Jefferson Territory on October 24. Colorado City at the Front Range confluence of Fountain and Camp creeks was formally organized on August 13,1859 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. It served as the capital of the Colorado Territory from November 5,1861, until August 14,1862, in 1871 the Colorado Springs Company laid out the towns of La Font and Fountain Colony, upstream and downstream respectively, of Colorado City. Within a year, Fountain Colony would be renamed Colorado Springs, the El Paso County seat shifted from Colorado City in 1873 to the Town of Colorado Springs. On December 1,1880, Colorado Springs expanded northward with two annexations, the second period of annexations was during 1889–90, and included Seaveys Addition, West Colorado Springs, East End, and another North End addition. In 1891 the Broadmoor Land Company built the Broadmoor suburb, which included the Broadmoor Casino, and by December 12,1895, by 1898, the city was designated into quadrants by the north-south Cascade Avenue and the east-west Washington/Pikes Peak avenues. From 1899 to 1901 Tesla Experimental Station operated on Knob Hill, alexander Airport north of the city opened in 1925, and in 1927 the original Colorado Springs Municipal Airport land was purchased east of the city. In World War II the United States Army Air Forces leased land adjacent to the municipal airfield and this was only one of several military presences in and around Colorado Springs during the war. In November 1950, Ent Air Force Base was selected as the Cold War headquarters for Air Defense Command. The former WWII Army Air Base, Peterson Field, which had been inactivated at the end of the war, was re-opened in 1951 as a U. S. Air Force base
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Colorado Springs with the Front Range in background
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Replacing the 1883 original which burned earlier in the year, the 1898
Antlers Hotel (above) was torn down in 1964.
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Space Command - Peterson AFB Building 1
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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View of Colorado Springs from Pikes Peak.
44.
Raton, New Mexico
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Raton is a city and the county seat of Colfax County in northeastern New Mexico. The city is located just south of Raton Pass, ratón is the Spanish term for mouse. The Raton Range and Raton Peak are located north of the town. The Raton Range is a 75-mile-long ridge that extends east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Raton Pass and the Raton Basin are also named for the Raton Range. Raton Pass had been used by Spanish explorers and Indians for centuries to cut through the rugged Rocky Mountains, the post office at this location was named Willow Springs from 1877 to 1879, Otero from 1879 to 1880, then renamed Raton in 1880. Raton was founded at the site of Willow Springs, a stop on the Santa Fe Trail, the original 320 acres for the Raton townsite were purchased from the Maxwell Land Grant in 1880. In 1879, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway bought a local toll road, Raton quickly developed as a railroad, mining and ranching center for the northeast part of the New Mexico territory, as well as the county seat and principal trading center of the area. The city is mentioned in Jack Kerouacs novel On the Road, Raton is located at 36°53′49″N 104°26′24″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 8.0 square miles. Raton is one of the sites for viewing the K-T Boundary, also known as the K-Pg Boundary or Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary. There is a sequence of rocks spanning the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary in Climax Canyon Park. Geographic Coordinates, 36°54′13. 99″N 104°27′0. 75″W The rocks have been studied for evidence of the iridium anomaly cited as evidence of a meteorite impact at the end of the Cretaceous. It is interpreted to have caused the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event which killed off non-avian dinosaurs, as well as other species of flora. The K-T Boundary is represented in the rock strata by a 1-cm thick tonstein clay layer which has found to contain anomalously high concentrations of iridium. As of the census of 2000, there were 7,282 people,3,035 households, the population density was 992.4 people per square mile. There were 3,472 housing units at a density of 473.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 78. 04% White,0. 23% African American,1. 59% Native American,0. 40% Asian,0. 01% Pacific Islander,16. 19% from other races, and 3. 53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 56. 96% of the population,30. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
Raton, New Mexico
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Downtown Raton (2010)
Raton, New Mexico
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Santa Fe Trail in Raton
Raton, New Mexico
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Amtrak station
Raton, New Mexico
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Solano's Boot & Western Wear, a family-owned enterprise at 101 South Second Street in Raton, began in 1956 as a small boot repair business operated by Andy Solano.
45.
La Junta, Colorado
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La Junta is the Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,077 at the 2010 United States Census, La Junta is located on the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado east of Pueblo. La Junta was named for the fact it rested at the intersection of the Santa Fe Trail, the town developed near Bents Post, a fur trading post of the 19th century. During World War II, La Junta had an Army Air Force Training Base outside town, an Air Force detachment of the Strategic Air Command remained there until modern flight simulators developed in the 1980s rendered live flight unnecessary for pilot training maneuvers. At least one aircraft crashed close by during such training maneuvers. The airport, located 5 miles north of La Junta, has 77 acres of tarmac, one runway is 6,851 feet long and the other is 5,800 feet. The Caboose is the drive-through for the State Bank, which was established in 1893, the bank has been remodeled with antiques, including a teller line from the late 1890s. La Junta is located at 37°58′53″N 103°32′51″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles, all of it land. The area is high terrain, dry with short grass prairie and sagebrush. This area of Colorado is often the warmest, summer brings numerous days above 100 °F. On July 20,2005, many cities in this region broke or tied heat records, La Junta reached 107 °F with an overnight low of 87 °F. However, the all-time record high for La Junta occurred on July 20,1998 with a temperature of 113 °F. There were 7,568 people,2,977 households, the population density was 2,652.0 people per square mile. There were 3,277 housing units at a density of 1,148.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 74. 22% White,1. 22% African American,1. 77% Native American,0. 86% Asian,0. 13% Pacific Islander,18. 33% from other races, and 3. 48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 43. 60% of the population,30. 9% of all households were made up of individuals and 15. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the family size was 3.06. In the city, the population was out with 27. 1% under the age of 18,10. 4% from 18 to 24,24. 6% from 25 to 44,21. 4% from 45 to 64. The median age was 36 years, for every 100 females there were 89.2 males
La Junta, Colorado
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Woodruff Block, built 1892. 1985 photo,
Historic American Buildings Survey.
La Junta, Colorado
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This
railroad caboose serves as the drive-up window for The State Bank.
La Junta, Colorado
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City welcome sign.
La Junta, Colorado
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La Junta. Post Office.
46.
Culebra Peak
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Culebra Peak is the highest summit of the Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent 14, 053-foot fourteener is located on land,14.2 miles east-southeast of the Town of San Luis in Costilla County, Colorado. Culebra Peak is the southernmost fourteener in the Rocky Mountains, Culebra Peak is one of the only fourteeners on private land. Access is limited, and a fee is charged to climb the peak, ownership of and access to the land, both for recreational and other activities, have been controversial issues for many years, involving multiple lawsuits and even occasional violence. List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of the United States List of mountain peaks of Colorado List of Colorado fourteeners Photo Journal from a hike up Culebra Peak
Culebra Peak
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Culebra Peak viewed from south of San Luis.
47.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
United States dollar
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Series of 1917
$1 United States bill
United States dollar
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Federal Reserve Notes
United States dollar
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Spanish silver real or
peso of 1768
United States dollar
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Obverse of rare 1934 $500 Federal Reserve Note, featuring a portrait of President
William McKinley.
48.
Spanish Peaks
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The Spanish Peaks are a pair of prominent mountains located in southwestern Huerfano County, Colorado. The Ute Indians named them Huajatolla, meaning two breasts or breasts of the Earth, the two peaks, West Spanish Peak and East Spanish Peak, are east of, and separate from, the Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. West Spanish Peak is the easternmost mountain over 4,000 meters in the United States, the Spanish Peaks were formed by two separate shallow igneous intrusions during the Late-Oligocene epoch of the Paleogene Period. West Spanish Peak is an older quartz syenite while East Spanish Peak is composed of granite and granodiorite porphyry, the Spanish Peaks were designated a National Natural Landmark in 1976 as one of the best known examples of igneous dikes. They were an important landmark on the Santa Fe Trail, the mountains can be seen as far north as Colorado Springs, as far west as Alamosa, points south to Raton, New Mexico, and points east of Trinidad. The Spanish Peaks Wilderness area of 17,855 acres encompasses the summits of both Spanish peaks, hiking is popular in the wilderness area. Breast shaped hills Spanish Peaks @ Peakbagger Spanish Peaks National Park Service
Spanish Peaks
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Spanish Peaks
.jpg)
Sangre de Cristo Mountains travel guide from Wikivoyage
