- La Garita Mountains
During the
Oligocene epoch , a series ofcaldera building eruptions of titanic proportions, ranging from VEI-8 to over VEI-9 (the largest eruption in geological history), devastated what is nowColorado and raised up the mountain chain, part of theSan Juan Mountains . The volcanic hotspot has been dormant for millions of years and is now of no danger to anyone.Today, they are one of Colorado's lesser known, but more picturesque wilderness areas, the La Garita Wilderness is, in fact, one of the state's original five. "La Garita means "the lookout" in Spanish, and this wilderness amply deserves the name. From the summit of this wilderness's single fourteener (14,014 foot
San Luis Peak ), climbers can gaze across the upper Rio Grande Valley and down the long stretch of theSan Luis Valley . About 35 miles of theContinental Divide lie well above a sprawling forestland that provides ideal habitats for huge numbers of elk and mule deer. [http://www.peakbagger.com/range.aspx?rid=14676]
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