THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF COLORADO 



33 



100 miles nearly due north and south, and there is many a jagged 

 14,000-foot peak in its picturesque skyline. 



In the Wet Mountain division of the forest, lying east of the 

 Sangre de Cristo Range, are the Wet Mountains, relatively low and 

 thickly wooded. According to tradition, the Mormon pioneers, com- 

 ing from the east across the dry, dust-laden plains, saw in the 

 distance the wooded verdure of the mountain slopes and the heavy 

 rain clouds hovering above, and rejoicingly gave them their name. 



In the Las Animas division of the forest, south of the Wet Moun- 

 tain Valley, is the Culebra Range. Detached from the Culebra Range, 

 of which they are geologically a part, and rising precipitously from 

 an almost level valley, their snow-capped peaks standing out like 

 beacons, are the two Spanish peaks. These peaks were probably the 

 first of the Rockies to be seen by white men. 



Fig. 24. — Opbir camp ground, San Isabel National Forest 



All of the San Isabel, with the exception of the western slope of the 

 Sangre de Cristo, which drains into the Rio Grande del Norte, lies 

 within the watershed of the Arkansas River and its southwestern 

 tributaries. 



In addition to their 825,000,000 board feet of timber, their range 

 for 40,000 head of livestock, and their guardianship of several im- 

 portant municipal watersheds, these three San Isabel units provide 

 another public service which is very closely interwoven with the 

 many other uses. Without in any way interfering with the primary 

 purposes of the forest, people in near-by communities, in coopera- 

 tion with the Forest Service, have developed this region as a very 

 intensively used recreation area. Roads have been built to make it 

 accessible. Community houses, improved camp grounds, resorts, and 

 hotels have all helped to bring the public close to the beauties of 

 these mountain forests. Boy Scouts, churches, business men, and 

 the American Legion have built lodges there for their summer 



