Welcome to Trails of Enchantment where we travel and discover the diverse cultures and nature of the borderland region.

Where we share the stories of the places, the art and the people that make up this beautiful land.

We are here to preserve and celebrate the uniqueness of the past.

Share a taste of the present community.

and engulf the bright future that awaits.

Trails of Enchantment.

Let's start on the trail.

The first stop on the trail is The El Paso Tin Mines.

Here we will trek up North Franklin Mountains trail with Ranger Lydia to learn a little geology, see some beautiful views, and maybe, find some gold?

Theres no gold.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Ranger Lydia, and I'm a park ranger here at Franklin Mountains State Park.

Behind me is the Tin Mine unit of the park, and we're going to be hiking out to the El Paso Tin Mines today.

Bear with us it's a little bit windy, but you just kind of enjoy that as part of nature today.

So come on, join us.

Doing well.

How about you?

Sorry.

Thank you.

Have a great day.

And this is a great spot where we can actually see a little bit, of how the mountain formed.

The thing is if you look at the bottom of the mountain, you see this red rock.

This is called Red Bluff Granite.

It's some of the oldest exposed rock in North America.

Geologists estimate that it's about a billion years old.

The top section of the mountain you see it's a much lighter color.

It's a completely different type of rock.

I mean, it's a much younger rock, actually.

It's about geologists estimate there's about 250 million years old.

This is sort of a grayish colored rock.

Its made of limestones, dolomite, sandstones.

And this was all formed when this area was under water.

Now, at this point, when that rock is laid, the mountain is not lifted up yet.

The way that the mountain formed is there's actually a fault that we're walking towards here.

And you'll be able to notice when you step out of the fault and onto that red rock, a little bit further along in the trail.

but what happened is you had two plates and they pulled apart.

So instead of pushing up into a mountain, they pulled apart and one plate sank down and the other lifted up.

So what we're looking at at this side is that tilted plate sticking up out of the ground.

Watch your head at the entrance here.

Whenever I start tours of the Tin Mines, I like to start with a little bit of perspective.

Because people have been living in these mountains, for thousands of years, and they've been using the rocks and minerals, and they've been mining.

But it didn't really look like this.

It was mostly surface mining, for stuff like chert, which would have been used to make arrowheads, dart points, stone tools, stuff like that.

But it also would have been using the rocks to make food processing surfaces like mannose, metates, or molcajete, or using the rock itself to make pigment, to make dyes and paints and things like that.

But mining like we think of it here it came to this region with the Spaniards, and of course, they were looking for gold.

Big question is did they find it?

There's a lot of urban legends about gold out here in the mountains.

I don't want to be the next person to find it.

I think the mountains themselves are the treasure, not anything we find inside of it.

There is no gold in this mine.

In fact, there's not even fool's gold in this mine.

Although we have it in other parts of the park.

The El Paso Tin Mining Company formed in 1909, and it was a mix of local investors and investors from New England.

They came together, formed this company, at the peak of operation, they had seven different shafts that they were working.

And they had like a miner's camp and a dining hall and a smelter.

They mined ten for a few years and then kind of dissolved into bankruptcy over the next couple of years.

I think they officially declared bankruptcy in 1915.

And then the land was auctioned off in 1918, I believe.

But, after that, they did attempt to to reopen the mines during the World Wars.

But even with the metal shortages, the cost of production was too high, to make a profit off of in this area.

I hope you enjoy exploring Texas State Parks.

You can learn more about Franklin Mountains and other state parks at TPWD.texas.gov, as well as our events and upcoming programs, and get some maps on there as well.

Have a great day!

Summer and hotdogs may go hand and hand, but you cant eat these dogs.

Our next stop on the trail is the Long Dog Derby in Ruidoso.

Here will see dachshunds from all over competing for the silliest winning winnie titles you can think of.

2024, we did our first wiener dog race, and then we quit in 2025 because we did have the monsoon season that led to all the flooding.

Now we're back at it.

It's been great.

We have people all the way from, you know, Colorado, Arizona, Texas.

And everybody wants to be involved in this race.

I think it's great.

It's great for the community.

It's fun.

Everybody has a great time.

We have a lot of great prizes.

We have $5,000 for the winner of the championship race.

It's going to be a great year.

We're going to start off with the hairiest weenie.

All right.

Can I get some, some reaction to that?

Come on!

There we go, there we go.

With the lovely black and brown we have Tessa.

Here's Tessa.

We have Arnold.

Let's hear some noise for Arnold guys.

Let's hear it for Sadie guys.

The winner hairiest weenie here today, is Tessa!

Come on, guys, give it up for her.

I'm talking girthy.

I'm talking big.

I'm talking he don't got to be fat, but he got to be a chonker, okay.

Let me confer with my judges.

Sometimes you need to get up and close with the a weenie to really understand it.

The winner of biggest, fattest weenie, and he's, Oh, he's charging off, is Oscar!

Guys, give it up for Oscar!

That's a chonker, guys, that is just a specimen.

Thank you,thank you, say thank you.

Here you go Oscar.

Good job buddy.

This is Oscar Meyer, wiener dog.

And he's eight and a half years old.

He won the slowest winnie 2 years ago.

So I thought we'd bring back this time and see if he could get fastest.

He did not but he got fattest.

On your mark.

Get set.

Go!

I am John, and this is my wiener dog Groot, he is Groot.

Its pretty fun watch wiener dogs race and he's winning so that's a good thing.

This is Cowboy, and he's in fourth heat at 3:00 and we're seeing how he's going to do.

He's one years old, and this is his first run, so he's very, interesting.

It's nice and cool here in the shade.

It's been great.

Food's great.

The host has been great.

Categories, I think, are spot on for the animals that they're racing.

So I think we're doing pretty good.

Grab some sunscreen because or next stop is Elephant Butte Lake for the 12th Elephant Butte Lake Kayak Fishing Tournament.

Youll be hooked.

I've been fishing for about 20 years, but started out bank fishing, got my first kayak long ago.

Little paddle kayak, ten foot vapor.

It's just been fun.

Just in the kayak so you can get to places you can't get to in the boats.

So you can get little skinny waters that the fish aren't touched.

They're a little bit easier to catch, but you still have to know what they're going to be looking for.

On the days we're not kayak fishing or anything, we generally talk on online.

Call each other.

Talk about baits, do whatever.

So yeah, it's a great community to get into.

Some of the best friends I've met have been in this kayak angling tournaments.

If I can just catch one fish for driving that 8.5 hours, I'll be happy.

That's all.

I can catch one, then it's worth it.

I told my wife the same thing.

I'm always learning something new.

And with the guys here, it's the same thing.

I'm always learning something new.

And I take it in and I give it back.

You know?

It's like that's, that's just, It's a give and take.

And that's exactly what the New Mexico guys do.

You come here and it's more of a enjoyment.

You know, if you win, it's great.

But it's just everyone treats you right.

To me it's like that's how fishing should be.

It reminds me when I was younger.

I started Zia, 10th annual, and I had my little lifetime paddle kayak here at Elephant Butte, which I knew was a big mistake growing up on this lake.

But I still wanted to try.

So I got out there and I actually caught quite a few white bass.

And, you know, I was pretty proud of myself.

It was actually really big that there was over 100 anglers.

After that, I started getting more comfortable and then I joined Bass Nation.

So I've been with Bass Nation now for two years.

The guys, they are my family, they're my brothers, my brothers in angling.

We, we all get along.

Of course they come to my camp to eat.

I wouldn't trade this for the world.

It's, this is a family, kayak family.

We all look out for each other.

Everybody will give you the shirt off their back.

I love it.

Oh, well, I go fishing with my dad a lot.

We don't go, like, too much, but we go pretty often.

And he fishes it every year, and he asked me if I wanted to do it this year, and I said yes, so.

What do you hope for tomorrow?

A big bass, all the big fish.

I mean, I entered in the pot, so hopefully I catch like a huge catfish or something.

White bass.

Here we go.

Holy christ sake.

Yeah.

There we go.

There we go.

Top water.

14 and a quater guys.

Sweet.

All right, everybody.

Well, thank you all again for another great year.

For the 12th annual Zia Outfitters Tournament.

Stephen Seitzinger taking home $180.

There you go buddy.

Had a 19.25 and a 18.25 in their stringer.

Their top five came out to 81in today.

And their anglers taking home $610, and that is Sam Garcia.

Thank you, brother.

Well, it was a great day.

In the morning at least kind of got tough after, lunch.

Pretty windy out there.

Everybody was out there hashing it out.

I think everybody did really well.

I come here almost every weekend.

I'm hoping to make a retirement home here one day, but it's fantastic to be out there with nature, water, trees, wildlife and the camaraderie with, with the folks is amazing.

It's the best place in the world.

12th Annual Zia Kayak Outfitters event, it's, as always, a great event.

We kind of got a perfect day.

Windy a little bit in the afternoon, but, the group of anglers we have, that continuously show up for this event are incredible, incredible sponsors.

It was a great day.

had a big, big stringer take home first 84.5in taking home over $1,000.

So overall, great event.

Huge shout out to Russ and Edna from Zia Kayak Outfitters.

Couldn't do it without them.

They started this 12 years ago.

I've been very fortunate to be a part of their team.

Take it over the last 2 or 3 years, and I just love to see the sport continue to grow.

The youth of our sport still being very active and hopeful.

So I love the sport and enjoyed the 12th annual, It was a great event.

Lacem up for the final stop on the trail.

Were taking it to the court for the Gus Macker 3 on 3 basketball tournament in Las Cruces.

Here will meet some from ball players from all walks of life ready to hoop it up for a good cause.

This is the Las Cruces Gus Macker basketball tournament.

Gus Macker is a 3 on 3 streetball tournament.

This tournament is being hosted by Mayfield High School's football booster club.

The proceeds benefit Las Cruces Mayfield High School football team.

Overall, when it comes to players, spectators, vendors, we get anywhere from 10 to 15,000 people over the entire weekend.

It's a really big community event.

The city of Las Cruces has been very supportive of the event.

And we do, we bring in people from all over the state, even as far as Michigan that come and play.

The Gus Macker tournament originally started coming to Las Cruces in the 90s and early 2000s, so the nostalgia in Las Cruces for this tournament is pretty significant.

The adults are like, yeah, I remember playing that in in middle school and high school back in the 90s, back in 2000.

So there's a lot of nostalgia involved with the tournament.

And I mean, just basketball fans alike.

They, it's an opportunity, It's something different.

There's nothing like this in the area that that happens.

So it gives them an opportunity to come out, play basketball and just have fun.

I've grown up playing in the Gus Macker all around the state my entire life.

You know, being this tall now, I'm this big, and it's just a healthy, healthy way to get out.

And, you know, stay active, be involved in the community, and win some basketball games.

I actually play basketball at New Mexico State.

I chose to come back to be a part of the community because of events like this.

You know, basketball is a huge passion of mine.

And to be able to have, you know, over 200 teams here this weekend, hundreds of people, It's the best way to just get out your community, be involved and be a part of something good.

It's amazing to be honest with you.

You know, I think it's really exciting for them just to have something to do on the weekend besides sitting home and being on the iPad.

You know, coming out here being athletic and showing their talent.

I think it's a really great, you know, atmosphere for the kids and something to be a part of and look back for and take their kids to be, you know, hopefully take them to, you know, do something special with their life.

I think in sports you know, is a big, you know, contribution to what we got going on in the community of Las Cruces, you know.

So I think it really keeps it going and keeps the kids, you know, focus on, you know, sports.

So I think it's a really big, big deal here in the event for us, yes sir.

I kind of switch names here and there.

Our name right now is All Gas No breaks, emphasizing basically, what you know we ain't going to stop, we're going to keep pushing through no matter if we're tired or not, we just going to keep going.

We're not going to slow down for anything.

So that's basically what our team name is right now and just keep going.

It's just a great environment.

I'm glad that they brought this back.

We got a lot of good ballplayers out here.

A lot of them end up leaving town because how good they are.

Las Cruces is a city that we're trying to bring back.

it kind of dialed down for a little bit, but it's still a love city.

Hooping out here is, man, it's a blessing being out here, especially no matter what.

You know, who we're playing against.

But, man, you can find anybody out here.

You go out to the, to the parks, You'll find a couple ballplayers out there trying to stay out of trouble.

And, you know, that's that's the thing about the community.

Oh, I think it's awesome.

I love when the community comes together.

We have the police department, the fire department.

All the football players are here volunteering.

And I love bringing things to Las Cruses I feel like we don't have enough things.

And so I know people love basketball, so it's been a good turnout.

I think the community really likes it and also it gives back so much to these kids.

And with the funds that we make, these boys are gonna, you know, have a lot of nice things for the football season.

You know what?

We couldn't do it without the parent volunteers.

It's a lot of work.

I'm not going to lie.

The Gus Macker really does drain us.

But if we have enough parent volunteers, it's amazing.

It just makes the event so much nicer.

Oh man, They, they made us so proud.

These kids have been playing the last two years together.

So for them to finally get together in a small little squad, you know, 4 V 4, 3 V 3.

They played really well.

They played their hearts out.

They didn't skip one beat.

It was a little hard from the heat, but I'm so proud of them.

They gave it 100%.

They never gave anything less than that.

So seeing everybody together, communicating all the other coaches, all the other players, you know, being safe and helping each other out, that, that means the world man.

We're showing a better generation to come together, you know, and show them for the good and not for the bad.

Mabas on three.

One, two, three Mambas!

All locally produced programming is available online at krwg dot org and Youtube dot com Thanks for joining us on Trails of Enchantment.

Will see you next time on the trail.