December 22 - 23, 2019
Organ Mountain National Monument in New Mexico is a remarkable place; I've been here several times. But, I've only just touched the number of trails, so there are many places I've not been.
Franklin Mountains is a place I've only had a vague notion that it was there, but really knew nothing about. It's not far south, so this would be a good chance to look it up.
New Mexico
This is a new National Monument, and it doesn't seem to have been discovered by very many people.
Organ Mountains National Monument
The Monument is run by the Bureau of Land Management (not the National Park Service), so there isn't nearly the infrastructure that you might expect from one of the better-known National Parks or National Monuments.
I was on part of the Pine Tree Trail last year, but it was too close to sundown to walk the whole loop. Today is just one removed from being the shortest day of the year, but I'm early enough that daylight isn't going to be a problem.
The trail climbs up the foothills of the mountains and then loops around before returning to the original start. It can be pretty steep, but the trail doesn't actually climb far into the mountains, so you're not doing much scrambling on the rocks.
The trail is easy to follow, but expect lots of tall steps.
Looking back towards the Tularosa Basin. The famous White Sands is to the left, hidden by the near slope. You can see part of the Missile Range complex to the right.
This isn't the best time of year to see the blooms, but high desert plants are always interesting, no matter the season.
As far as I know, there aren't any trails that cross over these peaks--but, farther north is a pass that lets you cross over the mountains. Of course, that would be a far longer walk than I'm doing.
Today is around fifty degrees (with no wind), so a pretty nice day for walking. But, the night temperature is well below freezing, so this mountain stream remains frozen.
Following the path to eventually return to where I started.
Organ Mountains is one of my favorite places.
Texas
This state park is said to be the largest urban park in the country. Of course, there's nothing urban about it--it's just that the city of El Paso has limits that extend far beyond the actual city. All the same, it's a very good thing people fought to create this park, as otherwise it came very close to becoming a high-desert housing development.
I'll be walking a grand loop, taking the path on the right and returning by the path on the left. Huge amounts of rock rubble have been spread on these trails to prevent erosion and to support the vehicles that would have been used many years ago when tin mines were working in the area.
This trail started quite wide and easy to follow, but eventually it would be neither.
A Big Horn mountain sheep might be more at home around here. There's quite a slope on this hillside and the loose rock makes it a bit tricky. You do not want to start sliding down the hill.
I've reached a spring and am looking back towards the valley where I started.
The ridge at Mundy Gap. To the left is where I've been (and where I'll next be going), and to the right you can see some of El Paso, but mainly Fort Bliss Military Reservation.
The trail back to the starting point is a rough jeep trail, so there's no difficulty knowing which way to go.
You get used to walking on heaps of rocks.
What an excellent park. The people of El Paso are lucky to have it.