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Saturday, November 12, 2011

Another Overcast Day

Purple Prickly Pear Cactus
The overcast kept the temperature up this morning; and the atmosphere felt oddly humid, though rain is not in the forecast.  We came upon a troubling scene west of Tortugas Mountain this morning.  Somebody (or bodies) used a sharp machete or sword to cleanly sever the wands of four or five different Ocotillos.  I've never understood this kind of wanton destruction for destruction's sake.
Always scouting the territory

Unfathomable act of vandalsim

Ocotillo wands hacked off with a machete?

Bishop's Cap

3 comments:

Dr. K said...

That vandalism is bizarre.

Scott said...

They must have been tall, too! What use could anyone possibly make of the ocotillos? Were the cut pieces laying on the ground?

packrat said...

Scott: The cut pieces were conspiciously absent, except for a few lying about. Straight Ocotillo wands can actually be used to make a "living" fence (as people in the Southwest have done for years), but it seems unlikely that anybody would be harvesting wands in that remote region.

Clouds on the Mountains

Cloudy Organs Pretty chilly for our morning hike today, but Dr. K, Willow and I were well prepared.  The wind at home was stronger than out ...