Sunday, March 31, 2013

Sunday Safari -- Ranger Peak

Hello and happy Easter from the Hermit-writer

Despite overcast skies, smog and enough dust in the air to gag a goat...I present you proof I made it to the top of Mount Franklin. Yep. This fogie. Though my lungs haven't adjusted to the elevation here, and I had to stop every tenth step for many deep breaths, I made it, carrying my camera and tripod. Enough about me...enjoy what I could make out of a less than perfect day for taking pictures:

My ultimate destination...way up there in that tiny speck of blue sky, one of the peaks of Mount Franklin...Ranger Peak.


On the way up...this intermediate hill where the well-healed live, overlooking the oldest neighborhoods of El Paso.

They have a nice view of downtown, don't they. Cough cough. Look at that smog and dust.

Nice backdrop for this hovel, eh?

Sometimes in the desert, the real beauty hides in miniature.

You can find the most delicate beauty even in the dry season if you take your time and look.

 This is the Mecca of iron-man mountain biking.

This is a bike trail Texas style.

Okay...now the tough part of the hike.


The sign did not lie:


Storage shed of bygone days. Nice view. I wonder what the mortgage is. The commute would be a bear though.

Near the peak, and I haven't had a coronary.

Can you imagine what this looks like on a beautiful day? Cough, cough.


Proof I made the peak. The tram endpoint.

I had tons of pictures that a geologist could drool over. I'll only bore you with this one. This tiny vein, what drew miners to the mountains...copper




Have a great week.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday Safari - Ron Coleman Trail (Franklin Mountains)



Hello from the hermit writer…

After a cold, a sinus infection, bronchitis and bad weather, I haven't been out for a hike forever and it's been driving me nuts. The wind was gusting 60 miles an hour on the summit, but I got out today, by darn. Hope you enjoy my pix from Ron Coleman Trail, off I-375 through the Franklin Mountains.







Nice of them to include half-mile markers

Wish I could get some of these boulders into my MIL's front yard. They'd look cool.

Boy! That peak is way up there.

Amazing a desert with an average of -200 percent humidity could have so much lichen on the rocks. I think it's pretty

I like rocks almost as much as I like trees. (I miss trees. Not many out here. I get a shiver when I see one *smile*)

Getting closer to the peak

Time to rest and turn around...cool, that's pretty

Looking west across the most western point of Texas, into New Mexico

Facing north west, and New Mexico.

 I made the peak (sort of...I'm not crossing the saddle to go up there).

Facing south. Edge of El Paso, with the haze of the dust storm over Juarez, Mexico. Can't see the mountains south of JZ because of the sand in the air.

I like rocks.

Outcroppings have neat rocks.

Facing south, southwest. Overlooks part of TX, NM, and Mexico

Couple of nice chucks of rock.

Yep. This old man made it up there.

When my knees recover, I'll take the southern trail up.


Have a great week!