A Nice Long Hike

Sunlight on naked Ocotillos

Becca and I were headed back in toward Tortugas Mountain after a long bushwhack in the outback when I spotted the Torrey Yucca in bloom, which is pictured below.  It's the first I've seen this season.  After I took a bunch of photos of it I realized that we had really gotten off track, and I asked Becca to find our way back.  Without hesitation she set off, and I marveled at her ability to retrace our route.  I could plainly see my boot prints in the dirt.  To the uninitiated who might believe that all deserts have Sahara-like sandy soil I can assure you that much of the Chihuahuan Desert is not sand.  If it were I could have easily found our way back.

Up the mountain's flank

Profiling like Hitchcock

Brushstroke clouds

Break time!

Dos cabezas

Scalloped Phacelia (Forget-me-not family)

Scalloped Phacelia

Not zits, but buds

Tortugas (left) and the Organ Mountains

Torrey Yucca starting to bloom west of the mountain

"Red head" (yucca bud)

Many Native American tribes ate yucca flowers as a delicacy

Sunny day in the Chihuahuan Desert

Observatory and Torrey Yucca

Yucca blossoms

The best pathfinder