Sunday Safari - McKelligon Canyon

Beautiful morning! 4orty-one degrees...slight breeze. Gorgeous-blue sky...hiking El Paso's premier area park...McKelligon Canyon. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

The straight line in the center of this picture is a flash flood dike. Beyond in the haze is the mesa snuggled between the three mountain ranges that El Paso lies between, with the peeks of the mountains of Mexico popping up above the smog.

I probably should get out of the middle of the road.

There were a lot of folks out getting exercise. The rise give the hamstrings a work out, let me tell you...then tighten the quads on the way down. (Wish the picture better displayed how steep the road into the canyon is.)

A zoomed in shot of the smog lying over El Paso and Juarez.

For those of you who don't live in the Southwest...the sky really is that blue.

(okay...pointing the camera toward the sun washes the blue out...okay)

Can you tell I love the symbolism of a winding road?

For you Northerners...those are yucca cacti. In the summer when they get a hint of rain, they bloom with these fifteen foot tall stems, topped by yellow flowers. Really cool to see. (I think it rained here last in 1966 though...cough cough)

For a Floridian, the rocks are the delight in this picture. (There are no rocks in Florida...no mountains either.)

Closest thing to a tree you'll find up here.

You should smell the mesquite after a shower (I can remember back to 1966)

I've missed the mountains for 26 years.

Guess what state we're in? (This is a wall along the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater.)

Looks like Mother Earth's broken ribs sticking out.

Anyone up for some rock climbing?

Some unlucky fools actually looked for gold in thar hills. But those are fake mining shacks for the tourists. (Three miles east are the streets Copper, Silver and Gold...remember El Paso was home of The College of Mines.)

I like to photograph the unexpected.

In my mind there is nothing more beautiful than how a tree reaches out for sustenance.

I've been up there a few times. Doesn't look like it, but it's almost as flat and wide as a football field on the very peak.

Wish I could take this back to Tampa with me.

Have a great week.

-R. Mac Wheeler

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