In the 1800's! Here is Hayden Pass' namesake, Ferdinand Vanderveer Hayden, sitting there in the flesh! Here's the description from http://www.huh.harvard.edu/libraries/fieldwork_exhibit/photographs/photographs.htm

"July 1877 Pictures of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories under the direction of Ferdinand Vanderveer Hayden [1829-1887]. Photograph taken by William Henry Jackson [1843-1942] at La Veta Pass, Colorado.

"Three stragglers" in background and from left to right (mostly seated): Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker [1817-1911], Asa Gray [1810-1888], Mrs. Strachey, Jane Loring Gray [1821-1909], Captain Stevenson, Dr. Lanborn, General Strachey, Ferdinand Vanderveer Hayden [1829-1887]

From the archives of the Gray Herbarium


^..^ Julie

Nice find. Did you go looking for this or bump into it?

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"Pleasure awaits your company."
Fortune Cookie

into, while looking for other Colorado info. I was looking for a link to a pic I once saw of someone flying a little airplane over Hayden Pass, and this was something that came up on the Google search. It's a great web site for old images. I love stuff like that.

^..^ Julie

Coming from the west side, the vegetation and scenery are high desert blended with high alpine flora . The moment you top the pass and drop onto the east side, things change dramatically to a moist, greener part of the mountain range. Seems the further away from the San Luis Valley, the wetter and more vegetated it becomes. A very pretty drive!

Yes, quite a stunning change. Mount Blanca looms loftily above it all. Very beautiful area of stunning contrasts.

^..^ Julie