East Spanish Peak


East Spanish Peak is a prominent mountain summit that is the lower of the two Spanish Peaks in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The peak is located in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, southeast by south of the Town of La Veta, Colorado, United States, on the drainage divide between Huerfano and Las Animas counties. The Spanish Peaks are two large igneous stocks which form an eastern outlier of the Culebra Range, a subrange of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. East Spanish Peak is higher than any point in the United States east of its longitude; it is also the easternmost point in the United States over,, and feet above sea level.

Geology

East Spanish Peak is the younger of the two Spanish Peaks stocks and was intruded 23.36 +/- 0.18 million years ago. The stock consists of a granite porphyry core surrounded by granodiorite porphyry. It is likely that the granite porphyry represents the upper portion of the magma chamber, the top of which eroded to expose at the summit the less-evolved larger portion of the magma chamber consisting of granodiorite porphyry.

Hiking/climbing

The standard ascent route for East Spanish Peak ascends the west ridge of the peak from the saddle between it and West Spanish Peak. A trail ascends to the saddle from the north side of the peaks.