Drought Dread

This & the next:  same Soaptree Yucca in First Arroyo

64F when we started off this morning, though it did feel hotter when Willow, Frio and I hit the trail.  The sun was blazing down, and there was almost no breeze.  The desert floor can feel like a skillet while you're trekking out there, especially when the land has a very low moisture content (as it does now).

I've been worried about this drought in the West for years, but recently it's become ever more alarming.  I've been hiking in the desert for decades, and I honestly don't think I've ever seen conditions this dry.  Plants seem incredibly parched, even in this most arid of environments.

We can only hope the monsoon season brings abundant rain this year, but I'm not holding my breath.

Small Mesquite Tree

I'm looking through you

Yucca leaves and observatory

Mesquites

Frio and Willow on break

This and the next:  deadwood

Mesquite branches

Large Torrey, small Mesquite

Little lizard

Mesquite tree bark

Mesquite leaves and flower

The rest:  Mexican Palo Verde (Parkinsonia aculeata)

 

Cholla Highlight

Willow and Frio

B- is the grade I gave both Heelers today, primarily because they were locked on and tracking a dog's scent for nearly the entire first half of our trek.  I know it was a dog they smelled because I saw the woman jogging with her dog just before we turned down LDR-A behind them.

After a shade and water break in Second Arroyo we turned around and headed back, both dogs trying nearly successfully to rip both of my arms out of their shoulder sockets.  It wasn't as if they were on another scent, or in a particular hurry to get back to the shade of the CR-V; apparently they just felt like pulling.  Frankly I don't understand why dogs don't tire of the resistance they inflict upon themselves by constantly straining forward.

Mesquite flowers

Frio and Willow

Soaptree Yucca in Second Arroyo

Mesquites at the corner of Second Arroyo and LDR

Darker green at center is where a major arroyo runs

LDR

Yin Yang

The rest, except the last:  Cholla flowers

Hummer at work

 

Bad to Worse

Southwest from LDR-A

Not a good trek this morning.  Heelers were especially "pully."  Three times they made to pursue jackrabbits, and on one of those occasions I had to snap their leads to get their attention.

Small pesky bees pestered us almost the entire hike, the same one or two revolving around us while they angrily(?) displayed their annoyance at our presence.

And then the poo de grâce:  as we scaled the steep incline on LDR Willow lurched toward a pile of dog crap, but pretended to listen when I said, "No!"  A second later, though, she dashed over to mark the fecal matter, stepping into it full on with her back right foot.  I was forced to scrape her paw in the dirt and then empty a water bottle on it prior to getting into the CR-V.  It was then I noticed the deep purple bruise above the wrist on my left arm, incurred, presumably, when I hurriedly removed my daypack to get at the water.

All things considered, quite an outing today.

Frio and Willow on the road again

Leaning Tower of Yucca

This & the next 2:  Mesquite flowers and buds

Sun through Soaptree Yucca leaves

Looking east in First Arroyo

This and the next 2:  Willow and Frio

First Arroyo

This and the next:  deadwood in First Arroyo

First Arroyo

Mesquite flowers

This & the next:  same view over Tortugas Mountain

Tortugas and the Organs

Mesquite and the mountains

Hills west of the Organ Mountains