Archive for December, 2009
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Robledos and Dona Anas
Every visitor to Las Cruces is struck by the beauty of the Organ Mountains, east of town. But there are numerous other mountain ranges in the area, including the Robledos and the Dona Anas, both north of Las Cruces. The Robledos are on the east side of the Mesilla Valley, the Dona Anas west of the valley.
Neither range are as spectacular as the Organs, and it’s hard to capture their beauty.
Here are two photos of Robledo Mountain taken after a light snow, yesterday. Robledo Mountain is the highest peak in the range, 5890 feet. The mountain was named for Pedro Robledo, who was killed May 21, 1598 and was buried nearby. Pedro Robledo was a lieutenant in Don Juan de Oñate’s colonizing expedition to New Mexico. Pedro Robledo was survived by a wife and five children, and his descendents still live in New Mexico. (Details here.)
If you look east from the Robledos, you can see the Dona Anas. The highest peak in the range is 5835 feet. (Photo taken December 29, 2009.)
Tags: Las Cruces, Misc Images, Snow
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Rain Granted
The last post (Sunday) noted that rain was predicted. Monday we got it. It rained almost all day, an unusually long rain at an unusual seasonal time.
Tuesday morning the clouds completely obscured the Organ Mountains. There had been a very light snow during the night, so it was reasonable to expect snow on the Organs.
About 12:30 pm the cloud cover cleared and the Organs became visible (click for a larger image):
The rock formation in the foreground in this photo is known as La Cueva, because of the cave at its base:
Tags: Las Cruces, Organ Mountains, Snow, Weather
