R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 168
August 3, 2015
David Williams Tour Part 9 — Hueco Tanks Continued
Last week I hinted to you the importance of the wetlands located within Hueco Tanks. Beginning over 10,000 years ago this oasis supplied critically needed water to the Clovis and later Folsom Paleo-Indian cultures. Later cultures supported here were the Mesilla and Doña Ana phases, stretching into the Mogollon Culture which I detailed in my series on the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site (links to Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) . Eventually the Mescalero Apache moved into the area
Sand Verbana
More r...
July 31, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — David Williams at Hueco Tanks 1
Bench and Boulder
This Fun Photo Friday and next I’ll be presenting to you some of my favorite shots from this outing with David Williams to Hueco Tanks. Here is today’s photo album:
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 ba...
July 29, 2015
David Williams Tour Part 8 — Hueco Tanks Continued
Hueco Tanks Wetland
Hueco Tanks State Historical Park holds an incredibly diverse set of attractions. Divided into four distinct “mountains” — North Mountain, East Mountain, West Mountain, and East Spur — only the North Mountain has unrestricted, unguided access. There is however a trail that skirts the northern edge of East Mountain that also grants limited unguided access, but not to the mountain itself.
Hueco Tanks Trees
One of the attractions in the Hueco Tanks park is it’s wetland, a oas...
July 27, 2015
David Williams Tour Part 7 — Hueco Tanks
Hueco Tanks State Historical Park
Just beyond the El Paso city limits to the east and just north of the Carlsbad Highway — the combined highways U.S. Route 180 and U.S. Route 62 — is the site of a rather mystical place called Hueco Tanks, a Texas State Historical Park. Here at Hueco Tanks, which lay just west of the Hueco Mountains, the visitor will find world-class bouldering, incredible birding, Mogollon pictographs dating back over 700 to 1,700 years, and even the adobe and rock wall remna...
July 24, 2015
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 th...
July 22, 2015
The Williams Tour Part 6 — Cloudcroft, Mexican Canyon, and back to El Paso
Burro Street Exchange, Cloudcroft
On Monday I gave you a little of the Lincoln-area history, with an emphasis on the infamous — Billy the Kid. Today we’ll take a look at history more closely associated with Cloudcroft. At 8,668 feet/2,642 meters above sea level, Cloudcroft is one of the highest villages in the United States. As with many Old West towns, the railroad is what built Cloudcroft and it’s the timber that brought the railroad to this lofty locale. In the late 1890s the El Paso and N...
July 20, 2015
The Williams Tour Part 5 — Cloudcroft, New Mexico
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
What do you do after a hot visit to White Sands? You cool off in the mountains, is what. And since El Paso’s Franklin Mountains are also desert mountains, that means other mountains.
Elephant Rock, South Franklin Peak, El Paso
Just two hours’ drive from El Paso is the mountain community of Cloudcroft, New Mexico. From White Sands that means climbing from an altitude of 4,235 feet/1,291 meters to a rather tall 8,668 feet/2,642 meters above sea level. If you’re not used t...
July 17, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — David Williams at White Sands
The Face
Photographing the dazzling white gypsum crystals of White Sands is not simply a case of point-and-shoot. That intense white will confuse your camera’s light sensor. Unless you make adjustments for that, your “white” dunes will come out looking dingy gray from underexposure. Approach photography at White Sands as you would approach bright daylight photography of snow — think “Exposure Compensation.”
Lonely Dune Climber
The vast majority of the photographs I’ve posted this week were ta...
July 15, 2015
The Williams Tour Part 4 — Still at White Sands
White Sands National Monument
So, what is there to do here amongst the gypsum dunes of White Sands? Ride them, of course. You did bring your saucer and wax, right? We did.
Selfie & Slide
Just climb to the top of a particularly tall and steep dune — the easiest way is to approach from a gradually sloping side rather than head-on — and sit atop your freshly waxed saucer. Getting started may be a bit of a struggle, but once you’re over the crest down you go!
Headin’ down
Don’t worry. You won’t p...
July 13, 2015
The Williams Tour Part 3 — David Williams at White Sands National Monument
The Star of this Series — David Williams
As you’ll recall from last week my good college buddy and best man at our wedding — Mr. David Williams — decided to pay Ursula and I a visit. We of course decided to take him on the grand tour of the El Paso area, including one of David’s favorite locations, the White Sands National Monument.
Ursula Holds her Hat
Despite the name and contrary to appearances, there is very little sand here. That fine, powdery white stuff you see everywhere is gypsum cry...
