Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Ultimately those two fires merged and became what we know as the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, which, over the course of several months, burned more than 530 square miles of land in a section of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, taking with it several hundred homes and acres of trees on federal and private land.

The couple pressed on through the afternoon traffic as the sun shone on the snow of the distant Sangre de Cristo Mountains and winds blew across pueblo lands.

The desert light and contrasting colors of purple candlewood blossoms and yellow sagebrush among the Sangre de Cristo mountains also attracted artists from across the Mississippi.

The city’s sublime views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and its roughly 325 days of sunshine a year make it almost a lock for good weather.

A lantern of golden candlelight flickers over a rocky archway, like the sun over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at sunset.