Angel Peak
Angel peak earned its name because the prominent, 7,000-foot isolated sandstone pinnacle strongly resembles an angel with outstretched wings. Even though the "wings" carved out by millions of years of erosion aren't perfectly symmetrical, the shape is distinct enough that it caught the eyes of early travelers moving through the rugged San Juan Basin of Northern New Mexico. Because the landscape surrounding it drops off into deep canyons and multi-colored badlands, Angel Peak stands out sharply against the horizon. It served as a massive navigation landmark for centuries.
Long before it had an English name, the peak was a vital visual marker. Archaeologists believe the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) used it as a primary line-of-sight signaling point to communicate between the major settlements in Chaco Canyon to the south and outlying settlements near Aztec to the north.
It is one of those places where the name perfectly captures the spirit of the topography, especially when the early morning or late evening light hits the sandstone "wings" and makes the whole formation glow against the badlands. On my recent road trip I stopped here late in the afternoon to catch to long shadows of the badlands sculpting the landscape.
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