Dia de las Flores

Golden Crownbeard

Dr. K, Willow and I got an early start on our morning hike.  It was a bit cooler out there, though still noticeably humid.  Not much of a breeze to speak of.  We descended LDR-A arroyo and headed northward across the Tellbrook Arroyo.  Recent rains have caused the desert flowers to bloom again, and they were a beautiful sight.  After the trek we drove to our local Circle K to gas up Whitey ($43) for slightly less than three-fourths of a tank, $4.19 per gallon.  Nevertheless, we took a drive after the outing in keeping with our normal routine.

Sunlight on ocotillos

Sun through Dayflower

Honey-tailed Striped Sweat Bees on Marigold flower

Four O'Clock

Sacred Datura flower opening

Guess who slept here?

Wils!

Hairy False Goldenaster

Bicolor Fanmustard (Nerisyrenia camporum)

 

Nada Especial

Sky west

One thing was special this morning after all:  Dr. K was back hiking with us having returned from Santa Fe yesterday afternoon.  Willow and I were really happy to have her back.  The humidity was very high during the trek with little breeze to provide evaporative cooling.  We did the equivalent of a normal hike, cutting out the middle branch arroyo which is filled with loose thorny clumps of prickly pear cactus scattered on the ground.  After the outing we took a long ride around several different areas before heading home.

Desert Marigold

This & next:  chinchweed (Pectis papposa)

Western flank of Tortugas Mountain

What's that expression?

Nevermind

Fruit of the Tasajillo (Cylindropuntia leptocaulis)

Willow ready to go

Distant hiker

 

Another Storm

Morning clouds

Another storm last night knocked our power out again; since Willow and I were already sleeping we have no idea how long the outage lasted.  The result of the rainfall:  high humidity during our morning trek.  We did a shorter one as compensation for the extra long hike we took yesterday.  Most interesting encounter was a male Wilson's Warbler that I only got two images of, one unusable and the other that appears here (which is disappointing).

Halfway decent photo of a Wilson's Warbler

Desert to the southwest

East to the mountains

Southwest of Tortugas Mountain

One ancient Soaptree Yucca soldier fell down

Cloud blanket

Willow on break in a wet left branch arroyo

Tortugas and the Organs

More southerly section of the Organ Mountains

 

Extended Trek

Old barrel hanging with the young yucca gang

Big storms last night knocked power out for almost two hours; Willow and I had already gone to bed before it came back on.  This morning the result of all that moisture in the atmosphere made for a very cool start to our daily trek.  The problem with cooler conditions in the latter days of summer is that it encourages us to take longer explorations, which we did today.  Ground was still noticeably wet from the heavy downpours.  We were rewarded for our extra effort by sighting several desert denizens who we love to see.

Tellbrook Arroyo looking west

Willow in a different wide arroyo

Twin-leaf Senna in front of chinchweed

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Different perspective on Tortugas and the Organs

Six-inch-tall barrel cactus

Ladder-backed Woodpecker on ocotillo branches

Little Willow looking majestic

Devil's Head cactus (Echinocactus Horizonthalonius)

 

Willow having fun

An arroyo we explored

Common Raven

Cool Change

Early morning double rainbow

It was raining right up until the time when Willow and I left for our morning outing; the result was a pleasantly cool start to the hike.  That sensation didn't last very long, though, as the 87% humidity began to take its toll.  Funny how that works.  We did the same full hike we did yesterday with the exception of an aborted start down the middle branch arroyo; Willow picked up a clump of prickly pear thorns, which I dislodged immediately.  We turned around and bushwhacked over to the left branch arroyo, following the route we took yesterday back to Whitey the CR-V.

Cloudy Organ Mountains from the trailhead

Headed down LDR-A

Soaptrees and the Organs

Distant view of the Organs and flank of Tortugas

Cholla cheerleaders

All the way down there?

Prickly pear peacock

Shed a few ounces

Four O'Clock

Holdover