Archive for the 'Southwest America' Category

On Walkabout On: The Road to Sierra Blanca Peak

Published on March 10, 2010 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: America, New Mexico, Sacramento Mountains, Sierra Blanca.

Earlier this winter I took a trip to see the snows of New Mexico’s Sierra Blanca Peak. During that trip my wife and I took County Road 532 up to the lookout near the Ski Apache resort. To go along with that posting I figured I would go ahead and post some pictures of what the mountain looks like when driving up it during the summer time. The most obvious difference between the winter and the summer on the mountain is how green everything is:

Since my wife and I live down in the deserts of El Paso seeing green like this is always a welcome experience:

Not everything is green though, there is plenty of wildflowers to see as well:

Here are some more examples of the wildflowers that can be seen covering the mountain:

As we continued up the mountain the views got better and better. The drive up CR 532 has to be one of the prettiest drives in all of New Mexico:

Here is a view of Sierra Blanca while driving up the road:

We soon pulled into the lookout on the mountain with my wife’s little Hyundai that was backdropped by the massive Sierra Blanca Peak:

The views from the lookout of the surrounding Sacramento Mountains is just incredible:

In this picture you can see the winding CR 532 working its way up the side of the mountain:

The village of Ruidoso that lies at the base on the mountain could be seen as well:

A view of the Capitan Mountains could also be seen out in the distance:

It is in the Capitan Mountains that the legend of Smoky Bear began. Anyway here is the view once again looking back towards the 11,973 foot summit of Sierra Blanca:

Here is a closer look at the summit of the mountain:

Finally at the end of County Road 532 is the Ski Apache resort:

The resort isn’t very big, but it has many ski trails for skiers to choose from during the winter months:

Here are some views from along the highway of the various ski trails that litter the side of Sierra Blanca Peak:

All in all no trip to the Ruidoso area is complete without a drive up CR 532. Like I said earlier in this posting, this has to be one of the best drives in New Mexico and the lookout towards the end of the road may very well have the best view from a lookout in all of New Mexico.

On Walkabout At: Hueco Tanks State Park, Texas – Part 2

Published on March 4, 2010 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: America, El Paso, Hueco Mountains, Hueco Tanks, Texas.

Prior Posting: Hueco Tanks State Park – Part 1

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From the graffiti rock art area in the middle of the Hueco Tanks State Park my wife and I turned around and headed back towards the visitor and followed this trail along the north side of the park:

The north side of the park is an area littered with a variety of very nice picnic areas:

We continued to walk along the northern end of the park and enjoyed the surround Chihuahuan Desert scenery:

The scenery included many cactus:

To include this one that looked just like a heart:

Walking along the northern edge of the park also meant some pretty nice views of the surrounding Hueco Mountains that surround most of the park:

From the north side of the park we made our way to the west side of the park which features many large rock outcroppings:

These large rock outcroppings on the west side of course makes Hueco Tanks very popular with rock climbers who come to challenge themselves on the various climbing courses here:

The large rock face pictured below is what climbers call “The Front Side”:

This rock is the most popular rope climbing face in the park and one of the most popular in all of Texas:

Most of the climbing course on The Front Side are 200-350 feet long and quite challenging with the first climb of this face documented in the 1950’s. The Front Side remains such a popular climbing destination that climbers are the number one visitors to Hueco Tanks. My wife and I are hardly rock climbers, but we decided to head into the rocks ourselves and see what we could find. We came upon this picnic area, which my wife who was pregnant at the time we visited the park, decided to take a break at while I continued to explore the rocks:

What was interesting about this picnic area was that it was located next to a small lagoon, which existence is so surprising considering how dry and arid this desert is:

Here is a view of the lagoon from up above on the rocks:

Here is a view of one of the large boulder formations that make up the park:

Soon I was at the top of the rocks and had a view looking back towards the 6,787 foot summit of Cerro Alto mountain, the highest peak in the Hueco Mountains:

Here is the view looking towards the area of the park off limits to day visitors and only accessed by guided tours that require reservations:

On the top of the rocks there is actually plenty of desert life growing up here as well:

Of couse there was plenty of ocotillo or Jacob’s Staff growing on the top of the rocks as well:

I was surprised by the amount of moss that could be seen growing on the top of the rocks on the top of Hueco Tanks:

I say that the moss is surprising simply because you just don’t see moss growing in the middle of the desert like this. Despite all the water at Hueco Tanks, during our entire trip the only wildlife we saw were these lizards that can be seen running around the rocks:

Hueco Tanks is no where near as scenic as probably the greatest rock wonder in the world, Uluru in Australia, but it is still quite an impressive place. The place it reminded me the most of though was Wave Rock in Western Australia, which had similar rock formations, water holes, and local importance to native Aboriginal tribes. Much like Wave Rock we had a great day out at Hueco Tanks and the fact we haven’t taken the guided tour to the sealed off rock art locations only means we have another excuse to visit this great park.

On Walkabout At: Hueco Tanks State Park, Texas – Part 1

Published on March 3, 2010 in Southwest America. 2 Comments Tags: America, El Paso, Hueco Mountains, Hueco Tanks, Texas.

The city of El Paso out in far Western Texas has a wide variety of hiking trails and rock climbing destination all around the city. Most of these outdoors opportunities are located in the Franklin Mountains that run through the middle of town, but to the far east of El Paso lies the city’s other great outdoor attraction, Hueco Tanks State Park. Hueco Tanks is a prominent rock outcropping that lies at the base of the Hueco Mountains:

The park is open 7 days a week and year-round. Here are the Park Hours: Winter (October 1st through April 30th): 8 a.m. – 6 p.m;.Summer (May 1st through September 30): 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. (Fri-Sun); 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Mon-Thurs). Reservations are recommended for visitors planning a trip to Hueco Tanks:

My wife and I planned to spend the day here hiking around and checking out the various Native American rock art galleries located in the park. So we paid the entrance fee and parked our vehicle near the visitor’s center:

At the visitor center, everyone who visits the park has to sit through a 20 minute video that educates visitors about the significance of the park. The video was quite good and the Native American park ranger was very informative as well with the answers he gave to the questions that were asked by the people who sat through the video. Here is a brief history of the site provided by the state park authorities:

This site was opened to the public in May of 1970. This 860.3-acre park is named for the large natural rock basins or “huecos” that have furnished a supply of trapped rain water to dwellers and travelers in this arid region of west Texas for millennia.A unique legacy of lively and fantastic rock paintings greets the visitor at the “tanks.” From Archaic hunters and foragers of thousands of years ago to relatively recent Mescalero Apaches, Native Americans have drawn strange mythological designs and human and animal figures on the rocks of the area. The site’s notable pictographs also include more than 200 face designs or “masks” left by the prehistoric Jornada Mogollon culture. Hueco Tanks was the site of the last Indian battle in the county. Apaches, Kiowas, and earlier Indian groups camped here and left behind pictographs telling of their adventures. These tanks served as watering places for the Butterfield Overland Mail Route. [Hueco Tanks State Park]

Before this land became a park in 1970 it was actually a private ranch owned by the Escontrias family that lived on the land for many decades. The remains of their old ranch house can be seen near the visitor center:

The remains of the old Butterfield Stage station can still be seen as well near the visitor center as well:

For those not wanting to travel very far to see some of the Native American artwork that can be found at Hueco Tanks, there is literally right behind the visitor center a cave in the rocks that is home to a few paintings:

The rock art inside the cave isn’t all that impressive, but nevertheless interesting to look at:

From the cave it is also possible to see one of the huecos that the park is famous for:

These huecos are formed when rain falls and flows through the cracks in the rocks and settles in these “tanks” in the various caves that shade it from the sun thus preventing evaporation. Water remains at Hueco Tanks all year around so it easy to see why through the centuries this area was so important to the Native Americans.

From the cave I also had a great viewpoint over the visitor center area as well as the highest point in the Hueco Mountains, Cerro Alto Peak at 6,787 feet:

Here is the view towards the cliffs of the Hueco Mountains that mark the end of the Otero Mesa and the drop in elevation to the Chihuahuan Desert floor where the Hueco Tanks lies:

We also had a view of my wife’s Hyundai that I had just recently bought her sitting in the parking lot:

From the cave my wife and I made our way past the visitor center down a trail that runs to a major rock art gallery that walk in visitors can go see:

The trail to the rock gallery went right by this lush grass field that wouldn’t be so striking if it wasn’t for the fact that all of this green was in the middle of the arid desert:

Beside the trees and bushes there was still plenty of lush desert scenery along the trail as well:

Here is an example of a ocotillo or Jacob’s Staff looks like cactus but it is actually an entirely different plant species:

Eventually the trail turned towards the rock and the art gallery:

The gallery really wasn’t rock art, but instead graffiti:

However, this graffiti was very interesting to read simply because of how old it was:

Reading the graffiti it is easy to imagine the travelers on the Butterfield Stage stopping here at the station and walking over hear to leave a message on the rock that they had been here. Unfortunately this is as far as day visitors can go to explore the rock art at the park because the south side of the park is by guided tour only, which prior reservations are needed through the park service. I will definitely have to do this some day, which gives me an excuse to come visit the park again. However, even the day use area there was still plenty more to see on this visit.

Next Posting: Hueco Tanks State Park – Part 2

Will This Be the Last Snow Fall of the Year for El Paso?

Published on March 2, 2010 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: America, El Paso, Franklin Mountains, Texas.

Here are some pictures from the most recent snow fall we had in El Paso, Texas. The first picture is of North Franklin Mountain, the high peak in the Franklins Mountains with a maximum altitude of 7,192 feet:

This next snow covered mountain is South Franklin Mountain with an altitude of 6,791 feet:

This picture is looking towards Ranger Peak and the Wyler Aerial Tramway:

It has been quite a winter with snow falling on El Paso a total of six times from October 2009 through February 2010. It has been an extremely cold winter in El Paso this year and I wonder if this will be the last snow fall of the year becaue I am ready for spring time, which if the nice weather today is any indication should be right around the corner.

On Walkabout At: Alamo Mountain, New Mexico

Published on February 24, 2010 in Southwest America. 2 Comments Tags: Alamo Mountain, America, Cornudas Mountains, New Mexico.

Prior Posting: Crossing the Otero Mesa

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After driving across the Otero Mesa using various remote dirt roads I found myself in front of the cattle corral that marks the start point to the hike up Alamo Mountain:

There is a lot of water underneath the Otero Mesa and the various wells on the mesa filled with water for the cattle is indication of how much water is underneath the ground here:

I parked my truck next to the corral and proceeded to walk down a dirt road towards the dormant volcano:

Alamo Mountain is one of many dormant volcanoes that composes the Cornudas Mountains that straddle the New Mexico / Texas state line. The volcanic past of this mountain is easily recognizable when viewed from Google Earth:

The dirt road only took me to the base of the mountain and from there I had to break brush through the high desert scrub up the increasingly steep slopes of the mountain:

After only about 20-30 minutes of hiking I soon found myself well above the cattle corral where I had parked my truck at:

Something else I saw from my perch was this group of rocks out in the distance that I definitely want to go check out sometime because it looks very similar to Hueco Tanks State Park near El Paso:

As I got higher up the mountain the terrain became rockier and steeper, which for some reason meant even more yucaa plants for me to traverse around:

Doing some prior research about Alamo Mountain I became informed about some Native American rock art that could be found on the mountain. This rock at the base of the mountain I hoped would be a sign of things to come since it had a few drawings on it:

Anyway I continued to ascend up the mountain working my way up some steep rocks and eventually climbed up to the bench of land that leads to the final push to the summit of the mountain:

From just this bench area I had just a superb view of the other volcanic peaks of the Cornudas Mountains:

What else I began to see on the bench were the first signs of the large amounts of snow that has fallen in the El Paso region this winter:

I also began to see quite a few antelope droppings which shows that these animals work their way up the mountain to graze on the grass that grows here:

To reach the summit of the mountain a bit of rock climbing up this rock wall is necessary:

It is nothing to hard to climb, but the snow right up against the rocks was surprisingly quite deep at some points coming up to my ankles. Anyway I scrambled up the rocks carefully avoiding the various icy spots and soon I was on the summit looking at the rocky ridges below me:

What was really amazing to me was the amount of pinon pine trees that are able to survive in the caldera of this extinct volcano. The Otero Mesa is nearly treeless so it is quite striking to see so many trees on the summit:

I then headed out across the relatively level caldera towards the northwestern portion of the mountain where most of the Indian rock art is said to lie:

From the northwestern edge of the mountain I had expansive views towards the Sacramento Mountains:

I also saw across this vast mesa the rising peaks of the Organ Mountains:

I also had a view to the west of the Hueco Mountains:

With an even closer look I could make out the distant Franklin Mountains out in the far distance:

I walked along the northwestern rim of the mountain looking for petroglyphs on the rocks:

And there was plenty of rocks to check out:

However, everywhere I looked I couldn’t find the petroglyphs on any of these rocks:

There are a lot of rocks to check out on this mountain and I spent about an hour and a half on top of the mountain looking at the rocks. I even walked into the interior of the caldera looking for any possible rock art:

The only thing I found was that someone had gone camping up here some while ago:

It was fun though walking around the interior of the summit just taking in this wilderness of pinon trees and cactus:

Here is the view from the mountain looking directly towards the south and into Texas:

Here is the view once again back towards the Sacramento Mountains in the north:

Finally I took in the view of the rugged Cornudas Mountains that lie to the east backdropped by the distant Guadalupe Mountains:

I had no luck finding the petroglyphs on the mountain and would have to come back here when I had more time to look because I had to meet my wife later on in the day to watch my daughter, which caused me to abandon my search for the Native American rock art. On the way down I decided to follow a fence line instead of breaking the same brush I did on the way up:

Following the fence line was actually a pretty good way to go up the mountain and I recommend it for those hiking up the mountain. All in all this was a fun hike though very remote. I saw no one on the mountain the entire day and in fact saw one rancher with a pick up on the dirt roads the entire day. The remoteness of this mountain makes it a great place for hikers that want to escape the crowds of more popular trails in places such as the Franklin Mountains. It is a bit of drive on dirt roads to get to, but the expansive views once on top of the mountain makes the work to get there worth it.

On Walkabout Across: New Mexico’s Otero Mesa

Published on February 23, 2010 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: Alamo Mountain, America, Hueco Mountains, New Mexico, Otero Mesa.

Prior Posting: Across the Hueco Mountains

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At the end of west Texas’ Hueco Ranch Road is the New Mexico state line:

Other than this sign there is no way to tell whether I was traveling in Texas or New Mexico. The Otero Mesa is just a vast and remote desert wilderness where things like a state boundary means little to life here. The mesa is composed mostly of flat grasslands covered with the occasional cactus or yucca tree:

In both of these pictures you can see some of the smaller hills of the Hueco Mountains on the New Mexico side of the border providing some relief from the flatness of this vast mesa. Far to the north the high mountains of the beautiful Sacramento Mountains are easily seen from the mesa as well:

According to the Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development website, this vast 2,400- square-mile area contains 1.2 million acres of public land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Roughly half of the area is covered by grassland, including the largest remaining tract of black grama grass in North America’s Chihuahuan Desert. In addition to breathtaking landscapes, Otero Mesa features New Mexico’s only remaining native pronghorn antelope herds, a healthy mule deer population, a complex ecosystem full of native plants and more than 1,000 species of wildlife, including the rare Aplomado falcon. Hidden below Otero Mesa’s grassland is a large reserve of groundwater known as the Salt Basin.

With such a vast grassland it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that the mesa is used for cattle grazing by the few ranches that dot the mesa:

However, cattle has a much lower impact on this unique environment than the controversial plan to allow oil exploration on the mesa, which for now has been suspended. As I continued to drive down the country road I took a moment to stop and take a picture of the Cerro Alto Mountain, the highest point in the Hueco Mountains to the west:

If you look closely in the above picture you can see a large airplane beacon tower that rises above the horizon. As I continued down Country Road F001 the large volcanic peaks of the Cornudas Mountains came into view:

Half of the Cornudas Mountains lies in Texas while the other half lies in New Mexico. The highest point of these remote mountains is Wind Mountain which rises to the lofty height of 7,280 feet. However, Wind Mountain will be a peak that I will have to attempt some other time because on this day my reason for coming to Otero Mesa was to climb Alamo Mountain:

To reach Alamo Mountain I had to make a turn south on to County Road F018, which fortunately was well sign posted:

However, my next turn was a little bit more difficult to locate because the sign for F015 had been blown over:

I had to turn around and backtrack to find this road due to the sign falling down, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Soon I was on the right road heading for the mountain:

A four wheel drive vehicle is not necessary to traverse this road, but a sturdy vehicle is recommended. There is also a fence you have to open to reach the base of the volcano. Make sure you close any gates you pass through when driving on the various roads that traverse the mesa. Along the road to Alamo Mountain I was fortunate enough to see a large herd of Pronghorn antelopes race across the road right in front of my truck and cluster off the road to the south:

As I stood outside to open a gate I noticed out in the distance the snow capped peaks of the Organ Mountains just outside of Las Cruces:

I also had a great view looking directly to the west of Cerro Alto Mountain once again:

Before I knew it I was in the heart of the Cornudas Mountains and the cattle stables that marks the start point for hikers heading up Alamo Mountain:

Next Posting: Hiking Up Alamo Mountain

On Walkabout Across: Texas’ Hueco Mountains

Published on February 20, 2010 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: America, Hueco Mountains, Texas.

On a recent weekend I decided to take a trip to climb Alamo Mountain which is a dormant mountain that rises above the desert grasslands of the Otero Mesa just north of the Texas state line in New Mexico. Alamo Mountain lies in a very remote area about 75 miles east of El Paso, which is accessed only by sparsely driven dirt roads:

The first dirt road to reach the mountain is the Hueco Ranch Road off of US Highway 180/62 that traverses the Hueco Mountains that lie to the east of El Paso. These rolling sometimes rugged mountains is home to few people and the remains of prior settlements in the mountains can still be seen today:

I have no idea what this building once was, but it is definitely interesting to see while driving along the road. The Hueco Mountains forms the western edge of what is known as the Otero Mesa. This vast mesa is mostly flat with a few peaks from the Huecos rising from the west. The biggest peak is the highest point in the Huecos called Cerro Alto Mountain:

Cerro Alto Mountain may be the highest point in the Huecos, but it is also one of the tallest mountains in all of Texas with an altitude of 6,787 feet:

This striking mountain is composed of Permian limestone that is estimated to be 250 million years old:

This is how this prominent peak looks on Google Earth:

It may appear that this desolate area would have little wildlife, but with careful observation it is possible to see plenty of wildlife on the mesa such as this road runner:

This road runner quickly took off after I took this lone picture, but it was still quite cool to see. As I drove by the mountain I could see the Hueco Ranch sitting at the base of the mountain. There was plenty of “No Trespassing” and “Keep Out” signs posted around their large property, which indicated to me that hiking up this mountain was forbidden:

If anyone knows if it is possible to hike up this mountain please leave a comment and let me know. Here is one last look at Cerro Alto Mountain from the Texas side of the border:

Notice how much larger Cerro Alto Mountain is compared to the rest of the smaller hills that make up the Hueco Mountains. From here the Hueco Ranch Road crosses into New Mexico and becomes County Road F001 which traverses the vast Otero Mesa and my final destination of Alamo Mountain.

Next Posting: Crossing the Otero Mesa

On Walkabout On: Anthony’s Nose In the Franklin Mountains

Published on February 16, 2010 in Southwest America. 4 Comments Tags: Anthony's Nose, El Paso, Franklin Mountains, Texas.

This past fall I attempted to climb the last major peak I haven’t summitted yet in the Franklin Mountains just outside of El Paso, Texas. The mountain is called Anthony’s Nose and is the second highest peak in the mountain range at 6,927 feet:

Here is an image of the east side of Anthony’s Nose after a recent dusting of snow this winter:

Readers may remember my prior hikes in the Franklin’s up it other two prominent peaks:

Back in the fall I didn’t have any snow to worry about, but rather the heat to contend with. Because of the heat that is why I began my hike to the summit of the peak early in the morning. The trail to the peak begins at the Tom Mays picnic area that is part of the Franklin Mountains State Park fee area on the west side of the mountain range:

Just a short walk from the parking lot is this park bench for those that don’t want to wander to far into the desert wilderness:

From the bench it is possible to see a wide variety of Chihuahuan Desert plant life that encompasses the Franklin Mountains State Park such as this large yucca tree:

This plant known as a ocotillo or Jacob’s Staff looks like cactus but it is actually an entirely different plant species:

During the wet seasons in the Chihuahuan Desert the thorns on this plant actually sprout green leaves:

During the spring the ocotillos will actually sprout red flowers on them. The ocotillos may not be cactus, but there is still plenty of real cactus to see:

Anyway I continued north up the trail that runs parallel to the base of the Franklin Mountains towards the distant Anthony’s Nose that can be seen in the distance below:

Along the way there was a number of dry river beds known as arroyos in the southwest that I had to cross:

From there I continued hiking to the north towards the distant Anthony’s Nose:

I took a quick break to drink some water and admire the desert scenery that I had crossed looking towards the south:

Looking to the west I could see the green scar across the desert that is the Rio Grande River Valley out in the distance:

Looking far to the north I could also make out the spectacular peaks of the Organ Mountains:

I continued on with my hike along the base of the mountains and eventually came upon a fence line:

I have no idea what this fence line represents but I think it may just be an old fence that remains from a now discontinued cattle ranch:

As I continued down the trail

After about two hours of walking I finally came the trail that leads to the base of Anthony’s Nose:

This trail leads into a valley with steep rocky walls:

The trail eventually turns into an arroyo that becomes increasingly difficult to climb up due to the large boulders and thick brush:

Due to the difficulty of hiking up the arroyo I decided to try and go cross country up the steep rocky sides of the mountain:

As I ascended up the mountain the summit of Anthony’s Nose was a constant presence in front of me:

The more I ascended up the mountain the better and better the views towards the west became:

My ascent up the mountain even cross country was increasingly difficult because of the thick brush I had to work my way through:

Due to the heat and difficulty of the hike I went through all the water I had brought with me and I wasn’t yet to the top of the mountain. I had to turn around knowing that I had about a two hour hike to get back to the picnic area where I was parked. I would have to bring much more water with me the next time I try to climb this peak as well as hike during a cooler time period than the early fall. So I turned around and headed back down the mountain. On the way down I noticed what look a old mine of some kind:

It looks like a coal seam that was being mined at one time from this location:

Going down the mountain was much quicker than going up and soon enough Anthony’s Nose was well behind me:

It front of me lied the long walk back to the Tom Mays picnic area and I had run out of water:

I wasn’t worried though because I have walked much further than this without water and about a little over an hour later I was back at my truck and on my way home. The summitting of Anthony’s Nose will have to wait to probably spring time when the weather is cooler and I will definitely bring more water for this difficult hike.

El Paso Ranked the World 12th Ugliest Airport By Travel & Leisure Magazine

Published on February 16, 2010 in Southwest America. 0 Comments Tags: airports, El Paso.

Travel & Leisure magazine recently released a list of the World’s Most Ugliest Airports and some how the El Paso International Airport made the list:

JFK International Airport – New York, USA
Charles de Gaulle – Paris, France
Sheremetyevo International Airport – Moscow, Russia
Heathrow Airport – London, UK
Washington Dulles International Airport – Virginia, USA
Narita International Airport - Tokyo, Japan
Linate Airport – Milan, Italy
Lynden Pindling International Airport – Nassau, Bahamas
Ngurah Rai International Airport – Denpasar, Bali
Sofia International Airport – Sofia, Bulgaria
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – Atlanta, USA
El Paso International Airport – El Paso, USA

Hat Tip: Christina Goes

Most of these airports I have never flown out of, but I can agree with JFK and Heathrow making the list. However, I was mystified by how LAX didn’t make this list, which is not only one of the ugliest airports I have seen, but just one of the worst overall. I actually do what I can to avoid flying through that airport even if it means a longer flight time. I am surprised Narita International Airport made the list as well. Narita is not the most sightly airport, but it isn’t that ugly either.

Anyway I am a frequent flier out of the El Paso airport since I live in El Paso and travel often for work. So seeing El Paso make the list at #12 surprised me as well. El Paso’s airport is not ugly and is actually one of my all-time favorite airports. Here is what the magazine had to say about the airport:

You are unlikely to mistake El Paso International for any other airport on the planet. Arguably that’s a good thing. The terminal is an apparent attempt to blend regional style—southwestern adobe, more or less—with…something harder to identify. (That domelike copper roof belongs where, exactly: on an old train station? a Greek Orthodox church? in Paris?) Inside, fast-food outlets and ticket counters are dressed up in southwestern drag. But the pièce de résistance lies at the airport entrance. Dedicated in 2007 and purportedly the world’s largest bronze equestrian statue (36 feet tall), it depicts Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, who reputedly gave El Paso its name, on a rearing horse. However, de Oñate’s special talent was massacring Indians, notably some 800 residents of the Acoma Mesa, and is, as a result, politically troublesome, so the statue is now simply called “The Equestrian.”

Judging by the above picture what is so ugly about the airport? It is a brown adobe color because of the city’s southwestern geography and the copper roof doesn’t look that bad in my opinion. Plus the copper is representative of the now closed copper industry in El Paso. Here is a picture of the Juan de Oñate statue that the magazine didn’t like:

Juan de Oñate is hardly the only early colonist to have a spotty record with his treatment of Native-Americans and yet we have plenty of places named after Kit Carson for example. Juan de Oñate is hardly reviled in El Paso as the author claims when the Juan de Oñate Trail that runs between El Paso and La Mesilla, New Mexico is a popular driving course on the weekend due to its wineries, farms, shops, and restaurants along the way. El Paso residents who the vast majority are of Mexican backgrounds take pride in the Spanish past and the people that protested the statue were mostly Native-Americans from the Acoma tribe in New Mexico. Here is a good New York Times article about the statue.

Anyway this listing of the airport by the magazine is making headlines on the El Paso news with locals strongly disagreeing with the magazine. I to find this Travel & Leisure article very misleading because El Paso International Airport is hardly one of the world’s ugliest airports. Now calling El Paso one of the ugliest towns in the US, well that is a different story.

On Walkabout On: New Mexico’s Snowy Sierra Blanca Peak

Published on February 15, 2010 in Southwest America. 2 Comments Tags: America, New Mexico, Ruidoso, Sacramento Mountains, Sierra Blanca, Ski Apache.

About two hours north of El Paso is the nearly 12,000 foot peak of Sierra Blanca located near the charming village of Ruidoso:

This scenic mountain is part of the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and is considered holy ground by the Native Americans. From Ruidoso there is a twisting road that takes visitors to the Ski Apache Ski Resort that is owned by the Indian Reservation:

However, my wife and I didn’t drive up here to go skiing. We just drove up here to the overlook that provides some stunning views of the surrounding mountains, to include the impressive Sierra Blanca Peak:

In Spanish Sierra Blanca means the white mountain and in the winter time Sierra Blanca definitely lives up to its name. From elevated area all the way in El Paso which is over a 100 miles away this great white mountain can be seen on clear days. From the lookout looking towards the east the the Capitan Mountains are easily visible:

Here is a closer look at the Capitan Mountains, which are famous as the mountain range where the legend of Smoky Bear began:

Looking towards the southeast the various peaks of the Sacramento Mountains opened up in front of us:

Down below in all those pine trees and snow is the village of Ruidoso:

My wife and I had a great day out and really enjoyed all the snow up in the Sacramento Mountains.

Archive for the 'Southwest America' Category

On Walkabout On: The Road to Sierra Blanca Peak

On Walkabout At: Hueco Tanks State Park, Texas – Part 2

On Walkabout At: Hueco Tanks State Park, Texas – Part 1

Will This Be the Last Snow Fall of the Year for El Paso?

On Walkabout At: Alamo Mountain, New Mexico

On Walkabout Across: New Mexico’s Otero Mesa

On Walkabout Across: Texas’ Hueco Mountains

On Walkabout On: Anthony’s Nose In the Franklin Mountains

El Paso Ranked the World 12th Ugliest Airport By Travel & Leisure Magazine

On Walkabout On: New Mexico’s Snowy Sierra Blanca Peak

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