Spanish Peaks Magnificence

by Barbara Chichester

Title

Spanish Peaks Magnificence

Artist

Barbara Chichester

Medium

Photograph - Photoart, Paintography

Description

"Spanish Peaks Magnificence" Fine Art Photography by Barbara Chichester....taken of the view from our home in the Gulnare area of the Colorado Mountains, where the air is clear and crisp and the views .....magnificent! The Spanish Peaks are a pair of prominent mountains located in southwestern Huerfano County, Colorado. The Ute Indians named them Huajatolla (pronounced Wa-ha-toy-a), meaning "two breasts". The Ute name translates as "Breasts of the Earth". The two peaks, West Spanish Peak (13,626 feet or 4,153 meters) and East Spanish Peak (12,683 feet or 3,866 meters), are east of, and separate from, the Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Spanish Peaks were formed by two separate shallow (or hypabyssal) igneous intrusions during the Late-Oligocene epoch of the Paleogene Period. West Spanish Peak is an older (24.59 +/- 0.13 Ma) quartz syenite while East Spanish Peak (23.36 +/- 0.18 Ma) 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 (133 miles (214 km)), as far west as Alamosa (85 miles (137 km)), points south to Raton, New Mexico (65 miles (105 km)), and points east of Trinidad (up to 15 miles (24 km).

Uploaded

September 18th, 2013

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