I traveled over three mountain passes today, at successively greater heights and more hazardous road conditions. First was Raton Pass at 7835 feet above sea level, then North La Veta Pass in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at 9413 feet, and finally Wolf Creek Pass in the San Juan Mountains at 10,856 feet. Snow covered the area like a blanket, all fresh and white. It goes on and on for hour after hour of driving. I didn't have to put on chains at any point, and I did no sliding as I mostly drove at 30 to 35 MPH. It was an amazing seven hours of driving.
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| Approaching Wolf Creek Pass |
There was a national monument on the way and I wanted to check it out, but it was closed for the season. The monument was created by President Barack Obama on September 21, 2012. (Fox News claimed it was a blatant political ploy to secure the vote of the Southern Ute Tribe). The pinnacle is on land that was already in the San Juan National Forest, and is adjacent to the Southern Ute Tribe Reservation. Its significance is as an archaeological feature as site of ancestral Puebloan ceremonial activity. From Wikipedia:
"The construction of the Great House Pueblo at the top of the ridge, close to Chimney Rock and its neighbor Companion Rock, had a large ceremonial role in the later years of Chaco presence. As the moon makes its lunar cycle across the sky over a period of 18.6 years, it appears in a "lunar standstill" between the two rocks every 9.3 [years] for a period of approximately 2 years. Evidence suggests that Great House Pueblo was first built in 1076 during a lunar standstill and expanded and finished in 1093 during another."
The peaks (or rocks) caught my eye as I was driving by outside of Durango, and I snapped this picture:
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| Chimney Rock, right, and Companion Rock, left |
I made that up about Fox News.
Day 5 mileage: 300
Cumulative mileage: 1,760
