Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.
October 2016
My second hike occurred on a trail at the Tom Lea Upper Unit in Franklin Mountain State Park. Carol led the hike.
Hike leader Carol, Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.
The green folds of the mountains appear gentle, even maternal, but they belie the scrabbly stone of the trails.
Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.
The loose rocks make for a skidding surface. Hiking sticks and grippy-soled footwear are good tools to prevent falls.
Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.
The hike was organized by the El Paso Hiking Group Meetup. So many convivial people devoted to the Franklin Mountains and to other nearby hiking areas.
Near Tom May Unit, Franklin Mountain State Park, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.
Have I mentioned that El Paso is home to the largest urban park within a city's limits in the entire country? Why, yes, I did, but it is worth repeating.
A slide show of my accumulation of Franklin Mountain photos thus far, below:
On a warm Saturday, I attended the Chihuahua Desert Festival at the Tom Mays Unit in Franklin Mountains State Park.
I bought some cool earrings from a group of high school students who belonged to a club related to desert conservation. These earrings feature Kenya's Tusker beer, with its signature yellow, black, and white palette.
Tusker Beer earrings.
They replace earrings I bought a bajillion years ago in Seattle, also made from Tusker beercaps. Those earrings eventually fell apart over the years.
Made me think about a whomp-ass, zydeco interpretation of Purple Rain by Corey Ledet at Vermilionville one Sunday afternoon. Unforgettable.
Later, I joined a small group to walk to an old copper mine near the Tom May Unit. We went into the mountain.
Between you and me, the mine itself was rather anti-climactic, but the visuals of climbing in and out of the mine were all very birth-womb-mother-Earthy, which was cool.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
El Paso - Franklin Mountains State Park, Tom Mays Unit Copper Mine. September 2016.
Above is a good image of the instability of the hiking surface in the Franklin Mountains. As I learned here, even a flat terrain demands some attention.
