Encountering Two Friends

View from the mountain's shadow

Apologies in advance for all the Roadrunner images, but I'm fascinated by this creature--especially the one pictured here; it seems Becca and I often encounter him at the same time and same place in the early mornings.  He's out hunting for breakfast, and he is singularly unafraid of us.  Today he once came within 10 or 15 feet of both Becca and me.  Later when I told our pal Jimmy (who we bumped into on our inbound leg) about the Roadrunner he told me he'd had encounters with the same bird, who was hunting for something to eat and wasn't bothered in the least by Jimmy's presence.  It's a marvelous thing to have encounters with one of nature's wild inhabitants.

Is that our old friend the Roadrunner?

Prickly Pears and Ocotillos

It's our pal the Roadrunner

On his daily hunt for breakfast

Keeping an eye on us even though he's unafraid

Check out what a Roadrunner's foot looks like

Intent on finding food

Partial wing spread

On the move

The "I've a mind to come over there and kick your ass" look

Missed one

That moth went that-a-way

Comin' atcha

Is that bug worth chasing?

My Mohawk look

Roadrunners are members of the cuckoo family

Show us your cotton tail . . .

. . . before you run

Desert jungle

The only clouds over the Organs

Actually a shredded cloud

Fall colors in an Ocotillo

What's that I spot in the gully?

November Wildflowers

Off to an early start west of the mountain

With all the depressing news of late--another terrorist attack, insane president and Russia-obsessed opposition party--I felt really eager to get out into the desert with Becca for a sane respite in the natural world.  We did a long, leisurely trek west of Tortugas Mountain and into the outback, and we were not disappointed.  We ran into not a single member of the human species while we were there, but we saw many desert denizens who obviously inhabit a much saner reality than that of Homo sapiens.  Our only regret:  that we had to return to "civilization" at the end of our sojourn.

West side of the arroyo we're hiking beside

Closer look at those yuccas

Fleet of UFO clouds

Trail through Tortugas Mountain foothills

Where clouds meet the mountain slope

Surprising how many flowers are still around

Sun through the clouds

Clouds masking the sun

Desert Marigolds

Wait!

Do I have to wait?

So many things to see on the trail ahead

Clouds shaped by high winds aloft

Road to the clouds

Getting further away from the mountains

Closeup of local color

High-desert grassland

Trailing Four O'Clock

Same as above

View through an Ocotillo

Old-timer (left) with sparse leaf cover

Yum--that was tasty.  A bit prickly, but tasty nonetheless

More local color

Fall colors on an old Ocotillo

Could be Showy Goldeneye