On the Rocks
My approach had been reduced to one of rudimentary locomotion. On all fours and hunched as low as I could go, I clawed along, inching painfully closer to the outcropping that stretched out above me.
To make matters worse, my protracted ascent along the seemingly near-vertical path was littered with prickly cacti and razor-sharp volcanic rocks. The blood now seeping from my palms and knees bore testament that thin-skinned humans are neither wanted nor welcome here.
Upon reaching the summit, I peeked cautiously in the direction my guide was pointing. Three hundred yards across a dry, desert gorge, three aoudad were sunning on rocky shelves. Two others were up and feeding. Even before glassing them, I knew these were exceptional sheep.
LIKE FURRY FOUR-WHEELERS
Folklore has it the Chinati Mountains in West Texas were named after an Apache word for “gate” or “mountain pass.” The small range rises to 7,728 feet and is primarily comprised of jagged igneous and metamorphic rock upheavals and outcroppings formed by volcanic events many millennia ago.
The Chinati Mountains were extensively mined for silver in the 1860s until the veins ran dry in the 1910s. Today, the
