Search This Blog

Followers

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Midweek Walk-About

Still green in late September
Although there were two cars parked at the Sunset area on the west side of the mountain, we didn't see one person in the outback this morning.  We did hear the Centenniel High School marching band warming up.  I never considered that one result of the new school would be noise pollution, but it's quite bad.  That type of sound carries a long way in the arid desert air.  We could hear the band from miles away.  Time for a letter to the editor, perhaps, though I can't imagine what can be done about the problem now.
The rugged desert near Tortugas Mountain

Down a gravelly road


Yucca shade break

Haze around the Organ Mountains

3 comments:

Dr. K said...

A marching band doesn't exactly fit in with a desert hike.

Scott said...

I like the composition of the second image.

It's not just in the arid desert air, Packrat. I live two miles from the local high school and can, on occasion, here its band, usually during home football games. The local country club (3/4-mile away) has skeet shooting on Sunday afternoons in the winter; I've had visitors to the preserve say they are going to write a letter because the sound is so disturbing when they're taking a walk. And, last but not least, I have to make notes on my springtime breeding bird census sheets indicating the level to which the Pennsylvania Turnpike noise (2 miles away) drowns out birdsong.

packrat said...

Obviously, I commiserate with you, Scott. Noise pollution is an insidious problem. I actually believe it's an impediment to clear thinking.

Tolerable Temps

Prickly Pear cactus in the left branch arroyo 58F when Dr. K, Willow and I started our hike this morning; and while it warmed fairly rapidly...