Hermit's Peak is a mountain in San Miguel County, in northern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The peak is named for the Italian religious recluse

Giovanni Maria de Agostini Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

, who lived in a cave on a narrow ledge on the southeast side of the mountain about one hundred feet below the summit rim. The cave could only be reached by descending from above. The cave roof was too low to allow Agostini to stand erect. To help shut out the elements and to protect himself from the sheer drop below, Agostini built a rock wall round the mouth of the cave. Agostini lived in the cave from August, 1863 to May, 1866. His cave became the subject of pilgrimage by some devout New Mexicans, during his life and for a number of years after his death. The Peak is in the

Santa Fe National Forest The Santa Fe National Forest is a protected national forest in northern New Mexico in the Southwestern United States. It was established in 1915 and covers . Elevations range from 5,300 feet (1600 m) to 13,103 feet (4000 m) at the su ...

, and the trail to the peak is maintained by the Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District. The trail to the top is approximately four miles from the El Porvenir Campground. From El Porvenir, Hermit Peak's has rocky features that seem to form a man's face looking to the sky. Left to right, one sees a forehead, eye, nose, two lips, and a chin. The rugged trail to the top of the "nose" winds through the "eye." The view from the tip of the "nose" is said to include five states. There is a rock overhang known as "Hermit's Cave" on the "nose." The area was impacted by the

Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire was the largest and most destructive wildfire in the history of New Mexico. The fire burned between early April and late June in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in San Miguel County, New Mexico, ...

, the largest in state history, in 2022.

Literature

Hermit Peak is the location for

Michael McGarrity Michael McGarrity (born 1940) is a New Mexican author and former law enforcement officer. He has written a dozen crime novels set in New Mexico and the American West trilogy, historical novels also set in New Mexico consisting of ''Hard Country ...

's suspense novel ''Hermit's Peak''.

References

External links

* * Mountains of New Mexico Landforms of San Miguel County, New Mexico Mountains of San Miguel County, New Mexico {{NewMexico-geo-stub