East Spanish Peak

East Spanish Peak
East Spanish Peak
	East (left) and West (right) Spanish Peaks
Highest point
Elevation	12,688 ft (3,867 m)
Prominence	2,383 ft (726 m)
Parent peak	West Spanish Peak
Isolation	4.21 mi (6.78 km)
Listing	Colorado prominent summits
Coordinates	37°23′36″N 104°55′12″W / 37.393404°N 104.9200632°W
Geography
	East Spanish Peak Colorado
Location	Huerfano and Las Animas counties, Colorado, United States
Parent range	Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Spanish Peaks
Topo map(s)	USGS 7.5' topographic map; Spanish Peaks, Colorado
Climbing
Easiest route	West Ridge: hike/scramble class 2

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 12,688-foot (3,867 m) peak is located in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, 9.3 miles (14.9 km) southeast by south (bearing 148°) of the Town of La Veta, Colorado, United States, on the drainage divide between Huerfano and Las Animas counties.^[1]^[2]^[4]^[3] 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 12,000 feet (3,700 m), 11,000 feet (3,400 m), and 10,000 feet (3,000 m) 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.^[5]

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.^[6]