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Friday, August 3, 2012

Return to the Bedrock Mortars


Check out  El Paso Hiking Group for a number of great upcoming hikes including three this weekend. Also go to Guadalupe Mountains National Park Meetup Group.  Remember also the Las Cruces & El Paso Adventurists.

One great place to find trail maps is at the Borderland Mountain Bike Association site. Many of the trails that we enjoy hiking were “constructed” by the BMBA. Also go to GeoBetty.com for great maps. While at GeoBetty, check out the Peak Fitness Challenge and sign up. Several of the hikes at FMSP are official peak challenge hikes. Check out the August schedule.

Speaking of BMBA trails, on Thursday, August 9, at 7 p.m. sharp we will do the Bedrock Mortars Hike. This hike includes following a lovely, narrow arroyo farther into the Franklin Mountain State Park and looping back to where we started. A bedrock mortar is a circular depression in rock used by ancient people to grind grain or other food products. The number of such mortars at this location suggests that the grinding was a communal activity. Very easy, scenic and fun. Bring at least a liter of water. Remember sunscreen and a hat.  Meet in the parking lot on the south end of Chuck Heinrich Park at the end of Jon Cunningham just off MLK in NE El Paso.  Plan to be there before 7 a.m. We will leave promptly and not wait for anyone after 7.

Since we will be in the Franklin Mountains State Park there is a $5 per person fee collected at the Iron Ranger at the trail head. The fee goes to the maintenance and program of the park and is well worth it. You can purchase a Texas State Parks Pass but it requires a visit to the FMSP headquarters in McKelligon Canyon. The TPWD has yet to learn that there is such a thing as purchasing conveniently online and probably could collect much, much more if they became just a tad more technologically savvy.

Join the El Paso Trans-Pecos Audubon Society tomorrow,  Saturday, August 4, 2012 for a trip to the Reservoirs Down the Valley.  You will travel down I10 east to visit the Reservoirs of McNary, Ft. Hancock and Tornillo.  Possible sightings will be Western & Clark's Grebes, Eared Grebes, pelicans, gulls, egrets, sandpipers, cormorants, herons and ducks of many species.  Meet at 6:30 a.m. at the parking lot at Burlington Coat Factory, at 1144 N. Yarbrough.  Exit at Yarbrough.  At the light, turn left under I10.  Burlington is on the right.  Bring a lunch, water and sun block.  Open to the public.  For more information contact Mark at 637-3521.

Finally, if you like this e-letter, please forward to all your friends. The El Paso Hiker tries to present in one place what you can get only by visiting multiple sites or receiving multiple emails. If you aren’t  a subscriber, please reply to this email and ask to be added to the list. Please also visit elpasonaturally and join that email list too.

Excelsior!

Jim H. Tolbert
Publisher, Elpasonaturally and the El Paso Hiker
Leading the way for sustainable living in the El Paso Southwest

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The El Paso Hiker E-Letter Volume 2, No. 22, August 3, 2012

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