And speaking of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The picture was taken from a valley floor about 11000 feet up. The mountain is over 12500 feet. Notice the tree line. It is too cold for tree seeds to germinate in the summer. By the way, valleys like this are sometimes called high chaparrals. A few dozen miles south of here is the Pecos Wilderness Area. The Pecos is a temperate rain forest, so much for the desert New Mexico.