This is Truchas Peak on the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range in the Rocky Mountains of Northern New Mexico. This mountain sits 13,000 feet above the Rio Grande and from here you can look north onto Taos. New Mexico. The name of the peak is from the Spanish word for “trout” (plural). The entire mountain is a small north-south trending massif with four identifiable summits, North Truchas Peak, Middle Truchas Peak, and South Truchas Peak.
Zedekiah: “This image was taken early in the morning as I skirted along the front of a very big storm following me into Taos. About 30 minutes after I lensed this image I landed at Taos Airport and spent the next 3 days trapped by the weather. But being trapped in Taos is a good thing! What a cool place!!
Leaving out of Santa Fe, New Mexico early in the morning on a cold winter’s day, a very heavy snowstorm blew in forcing a passage through the area from the southwest. Skirting around the southern edge of the storm but was all but blocked by the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range, just to the northeast of Santa Fe. Without the ability to climb too high for fear ice would accumulate on the wings, only one clear route was safely available, lower than the tops of the mountains which would still bear the brunt of the fierce winds that were pushing the storm.
Flying below the ridgeline as the sun began to rise, this stunning image appeared out in front of the storm. The winds were buffeting rather wildly when suddenly the clouds blew in front of the sun causing this beautiful effect of sun rays streaming out in all directions from behind the clouds. Thus was created this amazing image of Truchas Peak which sits at 13,102 feet above sea level in the Pecos Wilderness, a part of the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico.
