Tag Archives: Franklin Mountains

July 24, 2015 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — David Williams at Cloudcroft, Mexican Canyon, and the Franklins

View from Transmountain Pass

Don’t go away from the past two weeks’ worth of blog posts thinking the only things to see in the El Paso area are outside El Paso. Far from it. El Paso is a major city — 19th in the country in terms of population, and fifth largest in Texas. And it’s unique. It’s the only major U.S. city I know that is divided by a mountain chain. The Franklin Mountains divide West El Paso from the Northeast portion of town. Only a narrow strip of land between the south end of the Franklins and Juarez Mountains, through which the U.S.-Mexican border meanders, allow routine passage from west to east. This gap between the Franklins and the Juarez Mountains is the “Paso” (pass) in “El Paso”. The only other route is along Transmountain Road, which cuts through the Franklins and crests at an altitude of one mile/1.6 kilometers above sea level. That 5,280-foot/1,609-meter elevation puts you some 1,300 feet/400 meters above the surrounding desert, so from here you can get really fantastic views of two countries (U.S. and Mexico) and three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua).

The Franklins themselves offer some very interesting sights as well. For instance, here’s a shot of Elephant Rock as seen from Transmountain Road:

Elephant Rock — Franklin Mountains

As for this excursion to Cloudcroft and our stop at Mexican Canyon, here are my two favorite shots from that portion of our David Williams Tour:

The Burrow Exchange, Cloudcroft

Last, favorite look at Mexican Canyon Trestle

By the way, if you’re reading this and other material authored by me on The Destinary website, this post was not “Posted on (fill in the date) | By destinary” as they’ve been erroneously claiming; this material was in fact reposted. The Destinary have also been claiming the right to do so, without links back to the original and without full attribution (“by RDoug” and a nonworking link is not proper attribution) with a rather bizarre interpretation of U.S. copyright law in which they claim I’m responsible for changing my RSS feed settings so that they cannot skim my material for commercial purposes. That would make reading my blog less convenient for you, which I’m not willing to do. As such, I’ll be running this little diatribe on all travel related posts until they cease and desist, along with this:

Final note: Considering The Destinary is a site listed as owned by Sonia Bosquez-Platt of Indianapolis Tour & Travel, you may want to rethink doing business with her or her company.

2 Comments

Filed under Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Tagged as Cloudcroft, David Williams, El Paso area, Franklin Mountains, Fun Photo Friday, New Mexico, photography, R. Doug Wicker, Transmountain, travel, travel photography, Ursula Wicker, vacation

October 3, 2014 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — The Franklin Mountains Shrouded in Fog

Franklin Mountains

El Paso may be in the desert, but rain and mist make a welcome appearance now and again. This past August and September saw more than our normal share of rain, mist, and beautiful fog-shrouded mountains — in this case the Franklin Mountains that divide the city of El Paso.

Franklin Mountains

When clouds top the Franklins I enjoy grabbing the camera and snapping a few shots. The novelty never wears thin as I stand in my front yard or on a nearby street to capture the scene.

Franklin Mountains

If the winds are just right the mist will flow down the slopes with a dynamic cascading effect that is absolutely stunning.

Franklin Mountains

On this particular day late last month Ursula and I were off to photograph a new listing (Ursula is, after all, a REALTOR®, and I am her chief photographer and brochure designer). After a stop along the way to capture closeups of the fog, I took advantage of the huge backyard of her current listing to piece together some stunning panoramic images of the Franklins suspended beneath a low ceiling.

Franklin Mountains

Today I thought I would share with you the results of that day. I hope you enjoy them.

Franklin Mountains

1 Comment

Filed under Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker

Tagged as El Paso, Franklin Mountains, Fun Photo Friday, photography, R. Doug Wicker

June 13, 2012 · 12:00 am

Wyler Aerial Tramway—A Long Way Up and a Longer Way Down

El Paso has a pretty cool distinction, as far as U.S. cities go. It’s the only city I know of that is split by a mountain range. I live in West El Paso, which is located on the west side of the Franklin Mountains. Central/Downtown El Paso lies nestled below the southern end of the Franklins, in the pass formed between the Franklin and Juárez Mountains and just a river, a bridge, and a very short stroll away from Ciudad Juárez. East El Paso is where the El Paso International Airport resides (and where I work), as well as Fort Bliss (Army post), Biggs Army Airfield (former Air Force SAC base), and other areas of the city. Northeast El Paso stretches along the eastern slopes of the Franklins.

Wouldn’t be great to see the sights from atop one of the peaks overlooking El Paso and Ciudad Juárez?

You can. And not just by helicopter (which I did aboard an old Huey to the top of Mount Franklin back in the early ’80s). The other ways to get there are to hike or, much less strenuous, by taking a ride aboard the Wyler Aerial Tramway. An aerial tramway, also referred to as a cable car (unless you’re in a San Francisco cable car), consists of a passenger or cargo gondola suspended beneath two cables and pulled by a third cable. They’re not for the height-sensitive queasy types among us, but they get the job done in relatively safe manner . . . unless you’re in one when the military is flying around either in Italy or France.

July of last year our eldest grandson came for a visit to Casa de Wicker. So, being one of the aforementioned queasy types, I checked to see if there were any military jets in the air, downed the requisite half-bottle of Scotch (just kidding . . . kinda) and loaded him, Ursula, and myself aboard the tramway, and headed to the top of Ranger Peak some 1,700 feet (518 meters) or so above the surrounding terrain. The actual elevation of Ranger Peak is 5,632 feet above sea level (1,717 meters), but the elevation of the El Paso International Airport (which you’ll be able to see in the distance) is 3,962 feet (1,207 meters).

Tall enough for some fantastic views. From Ranger Peak you can see two cities (El Paso and Ciudad Juárez), three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua), and two countries (U.S. and Mexico).