Scenes From a Desert

Van Gogh clouds over Tortugas (Tortoise) Mountain

The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest desert in North America--about 395,000 square miles.  It's the easternmost and southermost desert, parts of which are located in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila, with sections extending into Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí.  But "fingers" of the desert extend northward into west Texas, southern New Mexico and eastern Arizona; The U.S. portions account for about 32% of the total area of the desert.  It is a high desert, most of it in an altitude range of 3,600 to 4,900 feet.

One of two observatories atop Tortugas Mountain

A break in the shade

The outer loop road

One-spot profile

Tortugas Mountain (left) and the Organ Mountains

The northwest hump of Tortugas Mountain

Flower buds at the tip of an Ocotillo wand