24 September 2008

Mountain Guide: Update and References

[Note: This originated from a post I wrote elsewhere, and I have decided it would be useful to post here, as well]

Back in July Earlier, I wrote a guide to the mountains of Las Cruces. I actually meant to follow that up with a little more detail of each of the mountain ranges, including access points, trails, and so forth. I still plan on doing that. I ended up getting distracted with other things (or just putting it off). In the mean time, I'd like to create a listing of other, similar, guides:

  • Book: Day Hikes and Nature Walks in the Las Cruces - El Paso Area, by Greg Magee
    I've looked through this at Coas Books before, and I really like it. I think there's a fairly diverse group of places in here, so it's not all just mountain hiking. Some of the listings are off-trail, but there are quite a few trail listings as well.

  • Book: A Bark In The Park: The 45 Best Places to Hike with Your Dog in the El Paso/Las Cruces Region, by Jessica Powers (Amazon link)
    I have not looked through this guide yet, but I found it on Amazon. The Table of Contents doesn't list what the 45 places are, so I can't judge on how diverse or great of a selection is included. From what I did see, however, there was at least a good introduction on taking a dog out hiking, especially going out into the desert. This book will most likely (a complete guess) be more focused on parks and trail systems in the area, with a tendency for more easier hikes than the Magee guide.

  • Website: Climbing Guide to the Organ Moutains, by R.L. Ingraham
    This is an outstanding guide to more technical and difficult hikes/climbs in the Organ Mountains. Not all of the destinations listed here require rope and/or other technical skills, but quite a few do. The rest are fairly difficult hikes, mostly done without trails (or are non-managed, faded-out, and require bushwacking in spots). With that, this is a guide for getting to the top of many of the peaks in the Organ Mountains. If you want to see spectacular views, and love a challenge, this is a great guide.

  • Website: SummitPost page on the Organ Mountains
    SummitPost.org is an all-around great source for climbing peaks, mountaineering, and other similar activities (lots of names apply to these). All the pages are written by other SummitPost users who have done these hikes in the past. After a page is put up, comments can be written with corrections to that if needed. This page covers some of the main peaks in the Organs, although not nearly as detailed as the Ingraham site. I think the SummitPost website is also more basic and easier to find what you need (since the Ingraham site doesn't have too many good pictures to help identify some of the locations, at least from what I found). To view individual peaks and trails in the Organs, use the menu on the left (under "Children").

    There are probably quite a few more sources out there- please comment if you have any you'd like to mention. I'll probably update this entry as I get more references, instead of posting a new entry for each additional listing (just to keep everything together).
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