Volunteer Life at Hueco Tanks State Historical Site, TX

On January 17 we drove into Fort Bliss Famcamp, one our favorite places, as we watched the darkening sky. The forecasters were predicting a severe snow, sleet storm. El Paso had already closed schools for the next day. We were truly thankful to be warm, safe, and dry. The Fort’s Famcamp sites have spacious, concrete patios and level parking pads. The clubhouse has a user friendly multipurpose room which includes a fully equipped kitchen. WiFi as well as dial up Internet access are available. Several pieces of exercise equipment and comfortable furniture are situated in the large room along with a big-screen TV, and reading area. We used several days to catch up on correspondence, shopping, and laundry (conveniently located next to the multipurpose room) before beginning our 30 day assignment at Hueco Tanks State Historic Site (HTSHS) near El Paso.

Although the weather was threatening, with snow and/or ice predicted, we drove east of El Paso 30 miles to the park on January 20 as scheduled. We were assigned a lovely campsite with a mountain view located .8 miles from park headquarters. The sun was bright, but the weather was cold. Several undaunted young rock climbers were in the office waiting eagerly to get on North Mountain. Many of the climbs are vertical with only small hollows to grab. Gym chalk is used to help get a grip. The guided tours leave every morning, weather permitting. Many of the climbers go without guides.

We met the staff and watched the orientation video. Because the park is an historical park, visitation is restricted to 70 people in the self-guided area, which includes North Mountain. Danny, one of the rangers, drove us around the park and pointed out the self-guided areas and the guide-only areas. The park has thousands of petroglyphs and pictographs as well as flora that grow only in the Tanks. In order to protect the ecosystem, the park is building and maintaining trails with the help of prisoners from a nearby correctional facility. The Hueco Mountains border one side of the park with the Franklin Mountains in the distance looking over the Huecos. We hiked part of the trip with Danny and broke the ice on puddles in places. The next day the ice and snow came, and we lost electicity for most of the day. Note the photo of our Airstream and Yukon top left. We really know where to camp in the winter. They DO call El Paso the "sun city."

The weather dipped to 12 that night, but by 8:30 the next morning it was on the way up to the 50s; we decided to walk to work. The mountains reflect different colors as the day progresses from dawn to dark. At times they even look purple; later as the sun disappears and the temp falls quickly, they go from a greenish gray to dark gray. These magnificent rocks were belched from the earth with a force only God could provide. They have evolved over the 35 million years of their existence into a world-class rock climbing (called bouldering) location. The climbers come from all over the world to demonstrate their skills, learn to climb, and provide guided tours and classes. Many are paid by the manufacturers of climbing apparel to demonstrate the quality and functional utility of their wares. Male climbers here outnumber females by five to one. They are excellent young athletes with tall, lean bodies and thick crash pads. There are no old or fat bolderers! So far we have had only one serious accident. A girl fell on a climb and broke her ankle in three places. She had to return to California for surgery; friends volunteered and drove her home.