Mule Ears Peaks - Big Bend NP TX
N 29° 09.979 W 103° 26.118
13R E 652167 N 3227425
The Mule Ears Peaks, an ancient navigation landmark in the Big Bend area, earned a mention in the 1940 WPA Guide to Texas
Waymark Code: WMV0VZ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/04/2017
Views: 1
The waymark coordinates are for the Mule Ears Peaks Outlook at Big Bend National Park.
From Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State:
"Due north of Johnson's rise, the PINNACLES (4,605 alt.), the southern escarpment of the Chisos range. To the northwest are MULE EAR PEAKS (3,880 alt.), landmarks in the Big Bend country easily identified by their [Page 630] distinctive shape, which justifies their name. They are still one of the natural signposts by which travel in this area is directed."
Really volcanic dikes that are ancient evidence of one of the many volcanic eruptions that shaped the features of Big Bend National park, Mule Ears Peaks are so named because they look like the big pointed ears of a mule.
The peaks are very visible from along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.
A sign at the Mule Ears Peaks trailhead tells the tale, as follows:
"MULE EARS PEAKS
From many vantage points in the park, the Mule Ears appear insignificant. Size and distance can be misleading in the desert vastness. The hiking closer, you can gain an appreciation of the monumental forces that created these peaks.
The Big Bend country is filled with such contradictions: features that seem modest from a distance but show natures awesome power confronted directly.
The Mule Ears are dikes that were once enclosed in tuff (volcanic ash). Consider the extent of erosion: to expose these igneous landmarks, all the softer surrounding rock had to be stripped away."
Book: Texas
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 629-630
Year Originally Published: 1940
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