Anthony peak is the largest wall feature that the Franklin
Mountains has to offer. It is also the most sustained aid climb in
the El Paso area. It begins with a 12 hour ( for me) approach from
NM 404 at mile marker 5 and proceeds up the ridgeline of the
Franklin Mountains into Texas. Once at the Great Cliffs, one must
rappel down into the approach gully of the peak and gain the base
of the wall. The route you choose must either be a diagonal to the
left or right as you cannot top out at the center due to a large area
of loose gravel that surrounds the summit. I strongly suggest that
one utilize ironmongery to develop the belay stations as they
provide the most secure placements. There are a few bolted belay
stations on the face that were planted in the 70's and 80's but I
would treat them as suspect due to their age.
NM CLIMBER.COM
Best time
to climb is
spring, fall
or winter.
Summer is
really hot
although
conditioned
climbers
with plenty
of water
can
tolerate
the temps
as the wall
faces north
Slab climbing with
sections of loose rock...
be careful and wear a
helmet at all times.
Anthony Peak
A view from the
wall...right side just
before topout.
Equipment List

70 meter dynamic rope
60 meter static for hauling
( vertical crack belay             
   stations will eat                  
   some rope here: thus         
   the length difference          
   between the two)
Full pin rack of LA's and        
Knifeblades  ( carry              
   multiples of #3 and #5's)
At least 2 sets of wired         
  nuts/ chocks up to 2"
At least 7 qts of water per     
person ( you will use one       
on the approach/descent       
and three on the wall. the      
other two use for cooking      
etc or cache for later.)
Topout.....Don't forget to sign the summit log

We started this one in the month of October when the temps were cooler. Left the trail head on
404 around 6am and gained the ridgeline of the Franklins about 10 am after gaining about 2000ft
of elevation through spanish dagger fields and rocky talus.
Once on the ridge, we hiked steadily upward toward the great cliffs. We passed several raptor
nests and the bone piles that surrounded them. There were several areas where the ridgeline
was so sharply pointed one literally had one foot on either face of the mountain range, with
significant exposure on both sides.

Time limited, we opted to scale the right side of the face. We reached the summit at
approximately 6 pm. There were numerous birds that were flying around us at what seemed to
be light speed. We descended into a large gulley on the east side of the feature that quickly
melted into darkness. Pressing through thick stands of catclaw at night, no easy task, was
complicated by a few surprising dropoffs that required two or three rappels into semi dry
waterfalls to reach the bottom of the canyon. During the descent, I was struck in the eye by a
surprised bird that exited a hole in the rock.

We terminated our adventure with a few miles of walking across the desert floor through
streambeds and creosote fields to the highway below in northeast el paso.
It was 6am and a short cellphone call summoned us a ride back to our starting point and ending
a grueling 24 hour trek.