Qualla: Uncompahgre Peak https://qualla.com/uncompahgre-peak en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:04 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/g/8/uncompahgre-peak-wp/uncompahgre-peak-from-northeas.jpg Qualla: Uncompahgre Peak https://qualla.com/uncompahgre-peak Uncompahgre Peak: Introduction https://qualla.com/uncompahgre-peak/ Photo credit Gregstoner88 (talk · contribs), CC BY-SA 3.0. In September 1894, a detachment of the U.S. Army Signal Corps hauled 8-inch mirrors and telescopes to the broad summit plateau of Uncompahgre Peak. Over several days beginning September 10, they aimed flashing light at Mount Ellen in Utah, 183 miles away across some of the most rugged terrain in North America. The signals got through. That heliograph record for visual communication stood as the world benchmark, a fitting achievement for a peak that dominates everything around it. Uncompahgre is the sixth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains, the highest point in the San Juan Mountains, and the highest point in the entire drainage basin of the Colorado River -- the watershed that feeds the Gulf of California and sustains much of the American Southwest.

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Image: Gregstoner88 (talk · contribs) | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/g/8/uncompahgre-peak-wp/9wg8-uncompahgre-peak-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Uncompahgre Peak: Red Water Spring https://qualla.com/uncompahgre-peak/ Photo credit NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; NOAA Central Library., Public domain. The peak takes its name from the Ute word Uncompaghre, which loosely translates to dirty water or red water spring. The name likely references the many hot springs near Ouray, Colorado, about seven miles to the west, where mineral-laden water surfaces in rusty shades. The Ute peo...

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Image: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; NOAA Central Library. | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/g/8/uncompahgre-peak-wp/9wg8-uncompahgre-peak-red-water-spring.mp3 0:06 2 full Uncompahgre Peak: A Volcano That Is Not a Volcano https://qualla.com/uncompahgre-peak/ Photo credit due_mele from Nomads of Earth, CC BY 2.0. Uncompahgre Peak is of volcanic origin, but it is not a volcano. Like all peaks in the San Juan Mountains, it was built from the accumulated debris of ancient eruptions that shaped the San Juan volcanic field millions of years ago. The rock is of poor quality for technical climbi...

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Image: due_mele from Nomads of Earth | CC BY 2.0

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/g/8/uncompahgre-peak-wp/9wg8-uncompahgre-peak-a-volcano-that-is-not-a-volcano.mp3 0:06 3 full Uncompahgre Peak: Crown of the Colorado River https://qualla.com/uncompahgre-peak/ Photo credit Buaidh, CC BY-SA 4.0. Among Colorado fourteeners, Uncompahgre holds a distinction no other peak can claim. It is the highest point in the drainage basin of the Colorado River, the vast watershed that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California. Every drop of rain or snowmelt that fall...

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Image: Buaidh | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/g/8/uncompahgre-peak-wp/9wg8-uncompahgre-peak-crown-of-the-colorado-river.mp3 0:06 4 full Uncompahgre Peak: Signals Across the Distance https://qualla.com/uncompahgre-peak/ Photo credit William Henry Jackson, Public domain. The 1894 heliograph experiment on Uncompahgre was not a stunt. The U.S. Army Signal Corps was testing the limits of visual communication across difficult terrain, and the 183-mile link to Mount Ellen in Utah pushed the technology as far as it could go. The mirrors were only 8 inc...

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Image: William Henry Jackson | Public domain

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/w/g/8/uncompahgre-peak-wp/9wg8-uncompahgre-peak-signals-across-the-distance.mp3 0:06 5 full