Every spring, as the snow melts, an angel emerges on a mountainside in the San Isabel National Forest. That’s what some see in the large snowfield on the eastern face of Mount Shavano – a kneeling angel, wings outstretched.
Some Native American legends say she was a princess who sacrificed herself to end a harsh drought who comes back every year as the Angel of Shavano. As the angel melts in the summer heat, her tears flow down to the valley as life-giving water. Mount Shavano rises above Salida, just east of the Continental Divide. Named for a Ute war chief, it’s the southernmost fourteener in the Sawatch Range. At the northern end is another fourteener, Mount of the Holy Cross, named for the shape of its snowfield. An angel and a cross, in the heart of the Colorado Rockies.
About Colorado Postcards
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado.
