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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Sunday Hike

Still a little snow on top of the Organ Mountains
Becca and I had a good outing around Tortugas Mountain this morning (sans Dr. K, who's in San Francisco.  I don't mean to imply we had a good outing because she's in California).  The weather was rather dynamic when we started out:  clouds, sun and wind.  Those are always interesting ingredients for photographic images.  The perspective of the very last photo here is skewed because I had to set the camera on the ground, but you get the idea about how tall that Yucca is.
The long view

Guess who spotted two mountain bikers?

Snakelike Soaptree Yucca stalk

Sinewy Soaptree Yucca stalk

A tall Torrey Yucca

Standing beside the Yucca (I'm 5' 11")

7 comments:

Scott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scott said...

I've been a High Country News subscriber for many years and read your oryx article when it was originally publi8shed. Thanks for bringing it to my attention again.

You might want to check out a new book reviewed in the New York Times Science section on December 27: "A Great Aridness", by William deBuys. I intend to read the book (based on the review), but I'm starting to teach a course this week and won't have time to read until the term's over. The review's really making me reconsider my intention to relocate to the Southwest when I retire in 6 years.

Tonia said...

I can see that becca took that last photo! What a smart dog she is.

packrat said...

Scott: Thanks for pointing me to deBuys's book. And thanks for reading the oryx piece again. A teacher, huh? I'm a former teacher.

packrat said...

Tonia: She is a smart dog, but she still doesn't get the dynamic involved in holding the camera.

Scott said...

Reluctant teacher, at best. I have my "day job," but the University of Pennsylvania and, now, Temple University have hired me as adjunct faculty. I teach one course every other year at Penn, and this will be my first course (the same course) at Temple. I assume that my re-appointment and frequency of teaching at Temple will depend on my term-end evaluations. I don't really like to teach, but (1) the students seem to appreciate the information and (2) the extra money's not bad--especially at Penn.

packrat said...

Scott: I'm certain you're performing a valuable service in teaching those classes, especially if the students are interested in the subject matter. That is the most important thing.

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