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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Hiking in the Mountains

Looking down canyon from the Osha Trail
Dr. K, Becca and I took a long hike on the Osha Trail outside of Cloudcroft, New Mexico this morning.  It was downright chilly.  Dr. K was dressed properly.  Packrat wasn't, though Packrat never felt uncomfortable; he was storing up the memory of cool temperatures for future recollection in the hot desert.  Toward the end of our trek we ran into a middle-aged couple who were just starting out.  They told us the altitude was getting to them; they were from Austin, Texas (elevation 500 ft.)  They didn't seem enthused when I said that the Osha Trail was all above 9,000 ft.
Proper attire for early-morning hiking on a cool July

Improper attire

The village of Cloudcroft, New Mexico

Sunflowers

Come out to the meadow, bonnie Jean

Hummingbird from below

Ruffled feathers

Ready for flight

at

3 comments:

Scott said...

Nice sunflower image! It must be such an incredible relief to be out of the baking desert. I can't believe that a few thousand feet would make the difference between needing shorts vs. a windbreaker, but I guess it does (thank goodness!)

The Austin, Texas couple will be like Kali and me. We live at 234 feet in elevation--but our Colorado place is at 7300 feet (but not 9000).

July 2, 2013 at 1:23 PM
Dr. K said...

That hummingbird appeared to be enjoying getting its feathers ruffled by the breeze.

July 2, 2013 at 2:33 PM
packrat said...

Thanks, Scott. Yes, it's great to be in the high country: long hikes in the morning, cooling rain in the afternoon. You'll adjust to the elevation in no time.

July 3, 2013 at 1:53 PM

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