Sangre de Cristo

On a family trip through the Sangre de Cristo mountains in northern New Mexico, color spotter Philip Reedy stopped to share peak color in this iconic corner of the Southwest.

Phil wrote he rented a condo at 9,200′ in elevation in Taos Ski Valley, east of Taos. There, the aspen are Near Peak and will peak within the week (similar to what we’re seeing in the Eastern Sierra).

He recommends the beautiful drive along Hwy 196 beside the Rio Costilla and included a shot from Comanche Point. Phil is seen in the foreground floating his fly line downstream, though if it were a scene from one of John Ford’s epic westerns, he’d have been astride a roan, looking up toward the glowing hillside of peak aspen, wondering whether he’d find the lost maiden somewhere in those mountains.