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Majestic Mountains

Inside/Outside Southwest recognizes 12 standout peaks

By Amy Maestas

Found in: | Outside | Climbing | Mountaineering |

The secret has long been out that the Four Corners region has bragging rights for having some of the best mountain peaks in the country. Describing the many mountains requires a firm grasp of superlatives, a really good thesaurus and a soul-seeking excitement. Many of the region's peaks get plenty of visitors and have indelible reputations that have elevated them to commodity status. Others stand blissfully and quiet in the dark reaches of the wilderness. Wherever they fall on that scale, mountains in the Four Corners can't be left alone. Here Inside/Outside Southwest attempts to confer accolades on only a tiny handful of them. Take note that this list is purely subjective. No one, we can all agree, has the final word on what's best and what's not so best. This list isn't meant to make anyone or anything feel bad. Rather, it's a fun attempt at showering our favorite weekend escapes with some kind words. Nor is the list scientific. There was no poll, no survey, no margin of error (though we know we will be called out by a few of you who will disagree with our votes) and no intent of being a definitive, exhaustive or accurate list. PricewaterhouseCooper was not involved in the making, auditing or sanctioning of this list either, and there will be no gold-plated peaks handed out or, thankfully, boring and mawkish acceptance speeches to sit through. So enjoy the read and remember that if your Smartwools end up in a wad because your favorite peak didn't make the list, lighten up and sound off - if you must.

Best Loner:
Uncompahgre Peak (Colorado)
Many Colorado peaks reaching 14,000 feet or higher in altitude sit pretty with an adjacent peak or two sitting on its left, right or both. The grand clusters lure peak baggers and weekend warriors. But Uncompahgre's show is all its own. It is uniquely flat on top. It sits in the Uncompahgre Wilderness, which encompasses country so high that more than half of the 100,000 acres are above timberline. With much of it isolated, the wilderness area is known as the turf mainly of mountain lions and bears. In fact, legend has it that bears beat the first human-summiteers to the top.

Biggest Little 14er:
Mount Sneffels (Colorado)
The Sneffels Highline Trail is an increasingly popular place for hikers, especially since the boom of peak baggers (those whose efforts are spent climbing peaks 14,000 feet or higher) took off in the last decade. While Sneffels falls into the high-altitude category, it is one of the easier 14ers to knock off in a day. Sculpted dramatic peaks and serrated ridges, Sneffels rests in the highly visited Yankee Boy Basin. Yet Sneffels gets this nod because what it offers in relative ease it makes up for in complexity. Today people still find new routes to hike the peak.

Most Popular:
Mount Sneffels (Colorado)
While we are trumping the glory of Sneffels, it is worthy to note that it takes two categories. It is a popular destination not just because of its easy access but also because of its exposure to the masses. So many people know about Sneffels because of its ubiquitous presence on calendars. Photographers worldwide have framed the peak from the valley below on the Dallas Divide. The thick aspen trees below make it picture perfect in the autumn. And there is an equal attraction on the other side. Yankee Boy Basin is a virtual carpet of wildflowers at peak season and provides a kaleidoscope of colors from columbines, paintbrush, arnica, phlox and lupine.

Best Representation of
Cross-Culturalism:
Mount Taylor (New Mexico)
Long before there was Mount Taylor there was Mount Cebolleta. And Mount Tsoodzil. The 11,301-foot peak, northeast of Grants, N. M., carries a blend of names because of the peoples' history. Navajo Indians know it as Mount Tsoodzil and, along with the Acoma Indians, regard it as a sacred peak. The Spanish called it Mount Cebolleta (tender onion). In 1849 it received its current name as a tribute to U.S. President Zachary Taylor. Regardless of its differing names, the peak has provided many things to many people. It is a stratovolcano, which was active from 3.3 to 1.5 million years ago during the Pliocene period. Smaller inactive volcanoes surround it. As such, it is a mountain rich in uranium and vanadium and so was heavily mined during the 1980s. It sits on Navajo Nation land, and with hundreds of other mines on the land Mount Taylor has played its role in providing more than 13 million tons of uranium ore to the United States since 1945.

Best Respite:
San Francisco Peaks (Arizona)
This category has to include an entire range of peaks, because the San Francisco Mountains are a collective gem. Especially for Phoenix city-slickers looking for a way to escape the stifling and unforgiving heat. The peaks are a short two-hour trip from Phoenix, and they sit smack dab in the middle of the Coconino National Forest surrounding Flagstaff, Ariz. They provide a dramatic image of the Sonoran Desert floor below, giving way to alpine tundra and volcanic peaks. The crimson cliffs juxtaposed with river-sliced gorges make the San Francisco Peaks. From as far as 100 miles away, people can see among the peaks Mount Humphries, which is the highest point in the state.

Best Legend:
Sleeping Ute (Colorado)
Not only does Sleeping Ute have the best legend of Southwestern peaks, it's a mind-bender also. It takes some time to finally figure out the bends and features of the sleeping man, located near Cortez, Colo. But once you do, the legend of it makes is more meaningful. According to Native American lore, Sleeping Ute was a Great Warrior God who was sent to fight people causing evil. Great Warrior God and the Evil Ones engaged in a battle. Tangled up in a fight, they stepped hard on the earth's soil to gain footing and their feet shifted the mountains and valleys. When, the story continues, Great Warrior God was hurt, he lay down to rest and fell into a deep sleep. Hence, the sleeping giant lies gently still to this day, his headpiece neatly flowing from his head and his arms folded in peace.

Hardest Peak to Pronounce:
Mount Tukuhnikivatz (Utah)
This peak in southern Utah isn't so easy to spell, either. The name comes from the Ute Indians, meaning "where the sun sets last." Mount Tukuhnikivatz rises 12,482 feet in the La Sals - the mountain range that often has snow on top year-round and is visible when looking up at it from the scorching summer heat in the Moab valley floor.

Best Name:
Chocolate Drops (Utah)
OK, so the Chocolate Drops aren't technically peaks - but, c'mon, how can you deny them some sort of accolade with a name like that? The Chocolate Drops are a formation of four rectangular-shaped vertical columns rising 200 feet in the air. They sit in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park and are one of the most prominent landmarks in the area. Venerated naturalist Ed Abbey wrote often about the Chocolate Drops, which are part of an area of Organ Shale rocks known as Land of Standing Rocks. These pillars are the remains of forceful erosive activity over thousands of years. What remains today of the crumbling rock are these picturesque spire formations. The Drops are good markers, because they rise above a ridge separating South Fork Horse and Pictograph Fork canyons. When you hike the moderately easy trail to the Chocolate Drops, the end reward isn't chocolate (unless you brought your own - and you managed to prevent it from dripping down your legs); instead, the reward is something far more spectacular: the Maze Overlook.

Most Underappreciated:
Abajo Mountains (Utah)
The Abajo Mountains - also known as the Blue Mountains - often get short shrift. Often passersby are headed for the red-rock mega-popular Moab of points north, or to the mammoth Lake Powell or San Juan River of points south. So there sit the Abajos as we all zoom right by. There are eight summits in this range of mountains, which are part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest. And they all - with their thick forest of aspen and fir - have some sort of draw. There is a network of trails for hiking, biking and cross-country skiing. There is a variety of campsites that are so underused that you are guaranteed some modicum of solitude. And atop one of the many peaks in the mountains is a stunning view of the Colorado River gorge to the west, Canyonlands National Park to the north and Montezuma Valley to the east.

Most True-to-Its-Name Peak:
Touch-Me-Not Mountain (New Mexico)
If you get a chance to touch it, you should go for it. Otherwise, this 12,045-foot peak in the Cimarron Valley of northern New Mexico is an unfriendly environment. To hike the peak, there is only one trail - and it isn't free of snow until well into June. Second to that, the mountain's armor is huge slabs of loose granite talus, leg-swallowing crevasses and scattered ponderosa pines. It's a lung-busting climb that shoots up 1,300 feet from the trailhead and does little but go straight up - don't count on switchbacks and gradual trail sections. Hikers who decide to touch it, though, are rewarded. On the summit the peak affords views of Taos Dome, Wheeler Peak (the highest point in the state), the Moreno Valley, Baldy Mountain, distant outlines of the Culebras, Latirs and San Juan mountain ranges, the Pecos Wilderness and Truchas Peak.

Most Pleasant Peak to Meander:
Bull-of-the-Woods Mountain (New Mexico)
The name fools you. You won't run into a bull - at least not of the bovine variety. Bull-of-the-Woods, in northern New Mexico near Taos Ski Valley, is a passage way to New Mexico's highest Peak: Wheeler, elevation 13, 161 feet. "The Bull" starts out as a large meadow that makes way for some of the tougher climbing in New Mexico's mountains, so it serves as a good introduction to some gnarlier hiking yet to come. As hikers meander through the meadow and up the mellow mountain, the pleasure is found among the many qualities of a sub-alpine life zone. You can quietly enjoy it all at once: Engeleman spruce, sub-alpine fir, cork bark fir, bristle cone pine, fairy slipper orchid, Rocky Mountain iris, primrose, monkshood, pika, marmot and of course many wonderful birds. How much more pleasant can it get?

Easiest to Hike:
Humphreys Peak (Arizona)
This peak is a short 4� miles from Arizona's Snow Bowl Ski Area. Because of its relative ease, you can hike to the summit and back in as little as three hours. Not bad for hoofing it up Arizona's highest mountain. Like other peaks, you see for nearly 100 miles once you reach the top - if you can stay upright on the oft-times 60-miles-per-hour winds.

Amy Maestas is a contributing editor of Inside/Outside Southwest magazine.