Mule Ear Peaks are two

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

s in

Brewster County, Texas Brewster County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in West Texas and its county seat (and only city) is Alpine, Texas, Alpine. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region, and b ...

, United States.

Description

Mule Ear Peaks is part of the

Chisos Mountains The Chisos Mountains, also known as the Chisos, are a mountain range located in the Big Bend, Texas, Big Bend area of the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, United States. The mountain system covers 40 square miles (104 square km) and is contained enti ...

and is set in the Chihuahuan Desert where it is an iconic landmark in

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topograph ...

. The south peak reaches 3,897 feet in elevation (1,188 meters) and the north peak is . The landform is a dike composed of

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

(volcanic rock) which formed 29 million years ago during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

period, specifically the Burro Mesa Rhyolite member of the Burro Mesa Formation.Gray, J.E., ''Geological, Geochemical, and Geophysical Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Big Bend National Park, Texas''
U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1327, p. 35, Retrieved 2024-11-08. Below the spires are Mule Ear Spring Tuff and Bee Mountain Basalt. Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, the peaks are located in a

hot arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

zone with hot summers and mild winters. Any scant precipitation runoff from the peak's slopes drains into Smoky Creek which empties into the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

six miles to the south-southwest.

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises 1,080 feet (329 m) above Smoky Creek in 0.35 mile (0.56 km). The mountain's descriptive toponym has been officially adopted by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

, and has been featured in publications since at least 1907. In the 1930s, part of Army Air Corps flight training included flying between these two spires. Col. Charles Deerwester claimed to be the first pilot to "thread the needle" by flying between the two peaks.Kenneth B. Ragsdale, ''Wings over the Mexican Border: Pioneer Military Aviation in the Big Bend'', University of Texas Press, 2010, . The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of the summit was made in the 1940s by

Jan and Herb Conn Jan H. Conn (April 22, 1924 – May 13, 2023) and Herbert William Conn (April 16, 1920 – February 1, 2012) were climbing and caving pioneers. They are credited with establishing many classic climbs in areas like Carderock in Maryland, Sen ...

Gallery

File:Mule Ears Peaks in Big Bend National Park.jpg, Mule Ear Peaks from west File:Texas - Brownwood through Chisos Mountains - NARA - 68149089.jpg, Aerial view, southwest aspect, 1932

References

External links

* Mule Ear Peaks
Weather
* Mule Ear Peaks (photo)
Flickr
* Mule Ear Peaks (photo)
Flickr
{{Portal bar, Mountains, Geology, Geography, Texas Mountains of Texas One-thousanders of the United States Landforms of Brewster County, Texas Big Bend National Park Chihuahuan Desert

Description

See also

Gallery

References

External links