Pictures of the Snow Covered Franklin Mountains

My daughter was born during the worst snow storm I have personally seen while living in El Paso, Texas.  Two days after the snow storm most of the snow on the desert valley floor where El Paso sits was clear of snow, but the peaks of the Franklin Mountains that bisect the city were still covered with snow:

There was still plenty of snow to be seen on the ground in McKelligon Canyon that is literally right across the street from the hospital my wife was staying at:

To give an idea of how close the canyon is to the hospital, here is a view towards the canyon from my wife’s hospital room during the snow storm:

My house is along the northern end of the mountains so when I was driving home I stopped and took the below picture of the northern peaks of the Franklin Mountains with the highest peak called Anthony’s Nose capped with clouds:

Here is the view looking back towards the south with the peak on the far left being the same peak you could see from my wife’s hospital window pictured above:

Before driving home I decided to take a drive up and over Trans-Mountain Road that crosses the entire range.  The road’s maximum altitude is a mile high which means there was a lot more snow piled up here than on the desert valley floor:

It isn’t very often you see yucca plants buried in almost a fit of snow that fell in the Franklins:

I stopped at the picnic area near the summit of Transmountain Road and a lot of people brought their kids up here to play in the snow:

Here is what the view from the picnic area looking towards downtown El Paso looked like:

From the picnic area I was also able to see the snow capped summit of North Franklin Peak, which I have climbed beforehttp://on-walkabout.com/2009/07/on-walkabout-on-north-franklin-mountain-texas-part-1/:

I sure wouldn’t climb this peak on a cold day like this though.  Here is a view of the Franklin Mountains from the west side of Transmountain Road:

The mountains highest peak, North Franklin Mountain provided a stunning back drop over Transmountain Road:

Here is a picture once again of the northern portion of the range, but this time from the west side where you can see Anthony’s Nose is still capped with clouds:

Here is a view of South Franklin Mountain from the west side as well:

A week after the snow storm there is still snow that can be seen on the mountains peaks, which really adds some needed color to a rather bleak desert landscape here in El Paso.  So I am enjoying it while it lasts.