Journey to the Cranes

tanjabrittonwriter 54 Comments

Last week’s post was a love song to the spectacular Sandhill Cranes who migrate through Colorado’s San Luis Valley twice a year. This week’s is a tribute to the no less spectacular setting where the cranes congregate each spring and autumn.

Multiple routes lead to the San Luis Valley from Colorado Springs, but the most direct follows Interstate 25 south to Walsenburg and, thence, US Highway 160 west. Colorado’s awe-inspiring mountains are never out of sight, providing constant visual stimulation. The Spanish Peaks in the featured photo above dominate the southern horizon during the first leg of the journey until Highway 160 traverses 9,413 foot (2.800 m) La Veta Pass, whence it descends into the San Luis Valley.

Highway 160 descending into the San Luis Valley from La Veta Pass

A topographic map of Colorado shows several high mountain valleys. Three of them are called “parks,” from the French trappers’ appellation “parques,” because of the plenitude of huntable animals reminiscent of their homeland parks in Europe which were stocked with game. They are aptly named North, Middle, and South Parks. South of South Park, a fourth valley bears the name San Luis Valley, for Colorado’s oldest continuously occupied town, San Luis, founded in 1851.

Visualize a wide-open basin at an elevation of about 7,600 feet (2.300 meters), ringed by mountain ranges along each horizon and dominated by the isolated Mount Blanca Massif which holds three “fourteeners,” mountains that exceed 14,000 feet (4.000 meters). Visualize further a baldachined sky which redefines the meaning of immense. The sheer size of the San Luis Valley (8,000 square miles) as well as the seeming endlessness of the firmament put our apparently important everyday concerns into perspective and invite one’s gaze and mind to wander.

Mount Blanca Massif

Sangre de Cristo Mountains with Colorado’s famous sand dunes in the foreground

Detail of the Sangre de Cristo mountains

Sunset in the San Luis Valley

Sunrise at Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge

After spending two days with the cranes, rather than returning the way I had come, I journeyed north on US Highway 285 and Colorado Highway 17, with constant breathtaking views of the western face of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. I descended from 9,100 foot (2.773 meter) Poncha Pass into Poncha Springs before traveling east on US Highway 50 through Cañon City, and north on Colorado Highway 115 back to Colorado Springs, completing my circuit (I prefer a circle any time to an out-and-back trip, even if the “circle” isn’t circular). Highway 50 parallels the course of the Arkansas River, where I had more lovely surprises, one of which will be at the center of next week’s post.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains with Russell Lakes State Wildlife Area in the foreground (including two Canada Geese)

Sangre de Cristo Mountains in early springtime, with the sparse winter vegetation still in evidence

54 thoughts on “Journey to the Cranes”

  2. Moin liebe Tanja.
    Ich bevorzuge wie wohl fast alle Menschen den Kreis Weg.
    Wegen Buddy spaziere ich nun aber doch den Hin- und Rückweg.
    Hunde lieben es “Zeitung” zu lesen auf dem Weg und das bitte ein Mal hin und ein Mal her 😅
    Deine Aufnahmen sind spektakulär und dein Bericht wie immer informativ und spannend zu lesen.
    Liebe Grüße Brigitte und Anhang 🐕

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    • Liebe Brigitte,

      ich danke Dir für den netten Kommentar.

      Wenn ich so eine gute Nase wie Buddy hätte, würde mir der selbe Hin- und Rückweg vielleicht auch besser gefallen. Aber selbst für Augen gibt es oft neue Entdeckungen auf dem Rückweg, die sie auf dem Hinweg übersehen haben.

      Liebe Grüße,

      Tanja

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  5. Wow! A landscape/geology photo spread with some wildlife thrown in. Doesn’t get much better than those photos (in my humble opinion) Tanja. I’m sure you have visited Royal Gorge a time or two during your “circle” routes.

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    • I’m so glad you join me on these trips, Julie, thank you! 🙂

      I was very taken by how the clouds wrapped themselves around the mountains–that interplay usually takes place by the afternoon, even if the day starts out without clouds.

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  12. I absolutely love these photos and your description of the trip. Like you, I think a “circular” trip (even if it isn’t really circular) is much more interesting than a back-n-forth. I look forward to more next week!

    Do you like Colorado Springs? I’ve been through there once, when my son was in Scouts; he was at a Scout camp outside of Colorado Springs. It’s a beautiful area. I saw my first Colorado Blue Columbine, , there. Sigh. That color!

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    • Thank you, Tina, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos and trip summary. This particular journey never gets old, no matter how many times I have undertaken it.

      How nice that you remember your first sighting of a Colorado Blue Columbine–they are lovely and we look forward to the blooming of the columbines that have taken over our driveway. 🙂

      Colorado Springs still has a lot to offer, especially the beautiful views of and access to the mountains. But we don’t like how much the city and county are growing, and how many natural places and their wild denizens are disappearing because of residential and commercial construction. That story is being played out in many places, though.

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  13. This post is more landscapy than your usual fare, and pretty landscapes they are indeed; no need to crane one’s neck to take in the mountains’ majesty.

    The first part of your route is familiar from the last time we were in Colorado, when we drove from Colorado Springs to Great Sand Dunes National Park and then south to Taos.

    Your use of baldachined sent me on an etymological journey. Wiktionary notes that English has rendered the noun baldachin in a slew of other forms: baldacchin, baldacchino, baldachino, baldakin, baldaquin, baudekin, baudekyn, baudkin, baudkyn, and bawdekin. Italian had taken baldacchino from Baldacca, a variant of Baghdad, where the material originally came from.

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    • Whether it’s necessary to crane’s one neck to look at the mountains’ majesty depends on one’s viewing distance. 😊 But that wasn’t an issue during this trip. The cranes’, too, won’t need to crane their necks, but their perspective in flight will be very different from mine.

      I’m glad you were able to take the scenic route across La Veta Pass to the Sand Dunes and on to Taos. As you know, we have traveled that way repeatedly. It’s hard to believe that a year has come and gone since our last trip to Taos.

      Thank you also for noticing the word “baldachined” and for sharing your research. I was debating whether “bebaldachined” would reflect the word’s meaning even better.

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    • Herzlichen Dank für Deinen Kommentar, liebe Ulrike. Es tut mir leid, daß meine Antwort so lange gedauert hat, aber irgendwie ist er im Spam gelandet.
      Ich mag diese menschenleeren Landschaften auch sehr gerne, und das ist etwas, was mir in Deutschland immer fehlt.
      Liebe verspätete Grüße zurück,
      Tanja

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      • Das ist doch nicht schlimm, liebe Tanja.
        WP verschiebt manchmal aus unergründlichen Gründen Kommentare in den Spamordner, das ist uns allen schon gelegentlich passiert.
        Ja, menschenleere, weite Landschaften gibt es im kleinen Deutschland eher weniger, und ich verstehe, daß Du es genießt, solche Ausblicke in der Nähe Deines jetzigen Wohnortes zu haben.
        Ganz herzlich grüßt Dich,
        Ulrike

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  16. What a stunning landscape, totally awe-inspiring. I couldn’t resist a chuckle when I saw one of your shots had been photobombed by Canada Geese…there’s just no escape from Canada Geese, is there? 🙂

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    • Thank you, Mr. P. I feel fortunate that I get to gaze at these beautiful mountains every day (at least some of them).

      How perspicacious of you to espy the Canada Geese. There aren’t many places where one doesn’t see them!

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    • Thank you, Brian. You should spend some time in Colorado before your races–altitude training would give you an advantage!

      The snow on top of the mountains will (and should) linger (we don’t want it to melt all at once), but most lower areas will be snow-free, though we never know. Another winter storm for higher elevations is predicted for this weekend and again for next Tuesday!

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  18. The combination of these magnificent views and your obvious love of them brought to mind a passage from Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek that I think you’ll appreciate: “Mountains are giant, restful, absorbent. You can heave your spirit into a mountain and the mountain will keep it, folded, and not throw it back as some creeks will. The creeks are the world with all its stimulus and beauty; I live there. But the mountains are home.”

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  19. Whoa!! These photos are simply beautiful, Tanja. When I think about the mountains of Colorado, I forget to imagine all the miles of beautiful undeveloped space that are in the foreground. Such a treat for this woodsy-living New Englander. I am looking for to your next “mysterious” post.
    Hmm…..”baldachined”….I had to look that one up! 😉
    Here’s hoping you weren’t part of the high winds the last few days.
    Best,
    Julie

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    • I’m glad you enjoyed the photos, Julie. The mountain views and wide-open spaces continue to charm, no matter how often I see them.

      Living where we do, frequent winds are a reality we have no say over. They have been mostly unpleasant this past week, but haven’t caused any damage where we are. Others were not so fortunate. Of all the weather conditions we experience, wind is my least favorite.

      I wish you a pleasant week.

      Tanja

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  20. What incredibly grand landscapes and immense vistas. It is hard to capture such panoramic scenes on camera, but your photos convey the size of the mountains and the broad horizons really well. Also a sense that it is somewhat chilly!

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