Near La Vetta, CO is West Spanish Peak, a wonderful mountain with a couple of ridgebacks leading up its side. It is on the edge of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where Robert Oppenheimer used to trek on horseback, while he was managing the Manhattan Project. There are always interesting clouds in the area and sometimes it can be quite dark and stormy. We pass this mountain on Hwy 160 between Walsenberg and Ft Garland, on our way to Taos, NM. The road sits between 7,500′ and 8,000′ and West Spanish Peak rises very steeply to 13,626′ (4,153 m) – not unusual for this part of the world. [Nerd fact: It is apparently the easternmost US mountain over 4,000 m.]
The picture was taken in 2010, when we first took this road.
