I have been taking photographs in the Marathon area in preparation for a small book on the basin. The original Big Bend Vistas had a section on the Marathon basin but I had to drop it in the Second Edition to keep the book down to an affordable size.
Cathedral Mountain in the Glass Mountains (confusingly there is another Cathedral Mountain south of Alpine) is capped by the Capitan Limestone, one of three erosion-resistant beds in the Permian strata of the mountains, that have created cuesta ridges. A cuesta is a hill or ridge with a steep slope or escarpment on one side and a gentle slope parallel to the strata on the other.
The Capitan Limestone is a fossil reef, rather like the coral reefs of the Caribbean, but built by sponges, algae and by calcium carbonate cement precipitated from seawater. It is found all the way round the south coast of the Delaware Basin, and reaches its most spectacular development in the Guadalupe Mountains, 130 miles northwest of Marathon, where it takes its name from the Capitan Peak. It crops out over most of the west-facing Glass Mountain slopes and caps the three highest peaks, Gilliland Peak (6,513 feet), Old Blue Mountain (6,286 feet), and Cathedral Mountain (6,220 feet).
Cathedral Mountain is north of Highway 90, 11 miles west of Marathon.
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Oh finally somebody that actually SEES the mountains in our tri-county area. I do not know a lot about the geological infancy of our mountains beyond a little but my love and interest in them is not any less dramatic. Since moving out here I have been astonished at how little notice all these ranges between Big Bend and Guadalupe actually get. I am especially disappointed in Alpine for I’ve never seen a mountain city like this have no attachment with it’s mountains except for the ownership of a few of it’s ranchers. It is no wonder that most of America and Texas thinks Texas is flat even in spite of the fact that there are at least a dozen peaks within twenty miles of Alpine that are higher than six-thousand feet, many higher than any mountain tops east of the Mississippi. And a little further down the road is the second highest mountain range in Texas, The Davis Mts. Yet, in all this there exists only a state park in the shallow grassy foothills of this high, rugged, and forested range. Also, access to Mount Livermore, for example, is limited to one day a month.
As for Cathedral Mountain, Twin Peaks, Twin Sisters, Ranger Peak, Pisano Peak, Mitre Peak, Castle Rock, Mount Ord, Bird Mountain, or any parts of the Puertacitas Mountains are restricted in a serious way from everyone.
I dream of a state park that would include the range of mountains south from Cathedral Mountain, north by Pisano Pass to Miter Peak. Perhaps a few others vision a Davis Mountain National Park that would include Livermore, Saw Tooth, and all the glory between.
In comparison to the rest of Texas, the most unique and bio diverse part, the trans-Pecos, also has the least number of protected and shared wild lands. Real strange. Most people are not aware that a National Forest would be appropriate in the Davis Mountains. Very interesting considering how few trees span the rest of the land!
I am very fascinated with the land that covers the three connecting points of Persidio, Jeff Davis, and Brewster Counties. While the drives between Fort Davis and Alpine and Alpine and Marfa are the most rugged, as in the photo you shared, the drive between Marfa and Fort Davis is just as naturally beautiful. I don’t understand how neither this loop or the Davis Mountain loop aren’t state or nationaly recognized as scenic roads.
Another interesting detail of the tri-city loop is that some point between each city the driver must go over a pass, Pisano Pass being the most popular. (The passes between Alpine and Fort Davis is about eight miles east of Fort Davis and the pass between Marfa and Fort Davis is about five or so miles north of Marfa).
Between these three cities is one of the most tragically unsung habitats in our state, like the Davis Mountains and Sierra De Norte Mountains nearby.
Is there a name for these mountains? Are they considered a part of the Sierra De Norte range or even the Davis Mountains? I’ve personally called them the Pisano Range or the Texas Alps (because of Alpine’s Alps of Texas motto).
Other questions: South of Alpine between Ranger Canyon and Cathedral Mountain there are three mountain peaks that are over six thousand feet that I have been unable to find names of.
Also, does either of the peaks that are exactly across hw 67 from Twin Sisters have names? (also easily seen from Alpine, these two mountains stand between the railroad and hw 67 on your right side as you enter the mountains going from Alpine to Marfa).
Lastly, do you know what Mount Hancock and Ord are named for? I have an unhappy hunch that they are named for two Northern generals from the CW. Unhappy because this is not a northern state.
Thanks for hearing out my views, thoughts, and questions. And thank you for the photo and information of our mountains. They may not be the Rockies or Appalachians but they are big and they are Texas.
Rebel Cry
Some call the mountains between Alpine and Marfa the Paisano Mountains. Those between Fort Davis and Alpine are generally thought to be part of the Davis Mountains.
Of the summits between Ranger Canyon and Cathedral Mountain, the only two I can find named are McIntyre Peak, very steep sided, and Haley Peak.
The escarpment across Hwy 67 from Twin Peaks does not have a name that I know of.
Hancock Hill was named for a local landowner. Mount Ord is named for General Edward Ord, West Point graduate who fought in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was appointed to command the Military Department of Texas in 1875 and retired in 1880.