Broken Hand Peak is a mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

on the boundary shared by

Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

and Saguache counties, in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, United States.

Description

Broken Hand Peak is set in the

Sangre de Cristo Range The Sangre de Cristo Range is a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southern Colorado in the United States, running north and south along the east side of the Rio Grande Rift. The mountains extend southeast from Poncha Pass for about thr ...

which is a subrange of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. It is the 10th-highest summit in Custer County, and the 206th-highest in Colorado. Broken Hand Peak, 0.75 mile (1.2 km) southeast of

Crestone Needle Crestone Needle is a high mountain summit of the Crestones in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The fourteener is located east-southeast ( bearing 108°) of the Town of Crestone in Saguache County, Color ...

, is included within the official name " Crestone Peaks". The mountain is located in the

Sangre de Cristo Wilderness The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is a long and narrow wilderness area covering of the Sangre de Cristo Range centered about Saguache and Custer counties, Colorado. Smaller areas are located in Fremont, Alamosa, and Huerfano counties. The w ...

on land managed by

San Isabel National Forest San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado. It is one of eleven national forests in the state of Col ...

and

Rio Grande National Forest Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million-acre (7,530 km2) U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of t ...

. Broken Hand Peak can be seen from

Highway 69 Route 69, or Highway 69, may refer to: International *European route E69 Australia * Appin Road Canada * Alberta Highway 69 * Ontario Highway 69 China * G69 Expressway Finland * Finnish national road 69 Greece * EO69 road India * N ...

south of the community of Westcliffe. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's eastern slopes drains into South Colony Creek, a tributary of Grape Creek, which in turn is a tributary of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

, and the west slope drains into Cottonwood Creek which is a tributary of San Luis Creek.

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises above South Colony Creek in 0.75 mile (1.2 km).

Etymology

The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1970 by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

to commemorate "Broken Hand" which was the Indian name of Thomas Fitzpatrick (1799–1854), an

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...

and mountain man of the 1800s.''Decisions of the United States Geographic Board'', Decision List No. 7002
US Government Printing Office, p. 3. He was known as "Broken Hand" after his left hand had been crippled in a firearms accident.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Broken Hand Peak is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring. Climbers can expect afternoon rain, hail, and lightning from the seasonal monsoon in late July and August.

Gallery

File:Broken Hand Peak, Lower South Colony Lake.jpg, Broken Hand Peak, Lower South Colony Lake File:Broken Hand Peak and Crestone Needle.jpg, Broken Hand Peak (left). Crestone Needle (right), Lower South Colony Lake. File:Broken Hand Peak, east.jpg, East aspect File:Broken Hand Peak, Pico Aislado.jpg, Broken Hand Peak (center), Pico Aislado (left) seen from Humboldt Peak File:Eastern Sangre de Cristo Range.jpg, Broken Hand Peak (centered), Humboldt Peak (right) File:Сломанная рука.jpg, Broken Hand Peak (left). Crestone Needle (right) File:Thomas Fitzpatrick (1799-1854).png, Thomas Fitzpatrick, aka "Broken Hand"

References

External links

* Broken Hand Peak
weather forecast
{{Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Custer County, Colorado Mountains of Saguache County, Colorado San Isabel National Forest Rio Grande National Forest Sangre de Cristo Mountains Four-thousanders of the United States