Sawatch Range
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Mount Elbert with Turquoise Lake in the foreground
The Sawatch Range [ səwætʃ ] (also Saguache Range) is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in central Colorado. The name comes from the Ute word meaning " blue earth " or " water at blue earth ". In Spanish, the name Saguache is used. The mountain chain includes eight of the 20 highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, including Mount Elbert, at 4401 m the highest mountain in the Rockies.
The mountain range extends over a length of 110 km in NW- SE direction between 39 ° 37 ' 36 "N, 106 ° 32 ' 1" W39.626666666667 - 106.53361111111 in the north and 38 ° 33 ' 19 " N, 106 ° 17' 32 " W38.555277777778 - 106.29222222222 in the south, along the Continental Divide. The eastern flank is drained by the Arkansas River, while the west side of the rivers Roaring Fork River, Eagle River and Gunnison River feeds.
The ascent of the peak is most technically less demanding.
Significant peaks of the Sawatch Range are:
- Mount Elbert, 4401 m
- Mount Massive, 4395 m
- La Plata Peak, 4369 m
- Mount of the Holy Cross, 4271 m
And the Collegiate Peaks -
- Mount Columbia, 4291 m
- Mount Harvard, 4397 m
- Mount Princeton, 4329 m
- Mount Yale, 4329 m
Nearby Cities are Leadville 16 km east and 32 km west Aspen. State Highway 82 crosses the mountain range on the Independence Pass, which is only open between late spring and autumn.
The White River National Forest and the Hunter - Fryingpan Wilderness lie in the Sawatch Range.