There’s a surge in planned hikes in our region! More and more people are hiking and looking for groups to hike with. Keep going to Celebration of Our Mountains , El Paso Hiking Meet-up and the Las Cruces Hiking Meet-up. Also check out the Ocotillo Hikers of Las Cruces.
Here’s one hike that doesn’t appear on any of the above but sure has me excited:
Bliss Sandstone Field Trip! Meet in the Mountain Park area of NE El Paso just off Magnetic/Alabama at Titanic and Big Bend tomorrow (Thursday, November 17, 2011) at 7 a.m. Hike to an interesting feature of Bliss Sandstone in the Franklins. Afterwards plan to eat at an El Paso Institution: the New Clock on Dyer which one veteran hiker has described as “the finest cuisine Northeast El Paso has to offer.”
Composed of small grains of quartz embedded in a matrix of sericite and kaolin and taking its name from Fort Bliss, Bliss Sandstone is a Paleozoic formation of the Ordovician/Cambrian Periods roughly 500 million years ago. Dating is based on “Annelid borings both perpendicular and parallel . . . in the Bliss sandstone.” (Citation here.) Although “the main occurrence of the Bliss sandstone is along the eastern slopes of the Franklin Mountains” . . . there are also “ outcrops in small areas on the upper western flanks of the central part of the range.” In fact, I have a sample found on the western side of the ridge above Fusselman Canyon along the Ron Coleman Trail not far from the Mammoth and our beloved Winkie. Bliss Sandstone is primarily ancient beach sands deposited in shallow, offshore waters. Similar formations are found in Central Texas, southwestern New Mexico and Arizona including the Tonto sandstone of the Grand Canyon. (Picture)
A fied trip to see Bliss Sandstone followed by breakfast at the New Clock – Priceless!
This weekend you can go birding in the lower valley (Tornillo, McNary, Fort Hancock) and see shore and wading birds. You can look for Fluorspar in the mines, adits and prospects that dot Bishop’s Cap. Franklin Hills is the launch site for two more hikes this weekend. On Saturday there will be a trails hike that can be done with moderate ease or moderate difficulty – whichever description you prefer. As you hike into the Franklin Mountains State Park you can see land to be developed and, hopefully, land to be permanently preserved. On Sunday take a more leisurely route and stroll and see the fossils in the area. Both hikes will be led by Master Naturalist and Master Hiker, Tommy Young.
Finally, if you are interested in the Crane Festival at the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge (just below Socorro, New Mexico), this weekend is a good time to go. Contact Coordinator Carol Brown at 915-630-1424 for more information.
Excelsior!
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