10 Miles East of Las Cruces

Odd cloud over the Organ Mountains:  harbinger of a cold front

Three intrepid hikers (Dr. K, Becca and Packrat) did a long hike on the Sierra Vista Trail this morning, hugging the western slopes of the Organ Mountains.  We encountered no other outdoor-types going or coming, even though there was a white Toyota Tundra in the parking lot when we got back.  The weather was perfect, but the clouds showed high winds aloft, the precursor of a powerful cold front that's supposed to blow through later this afternoon, dropping temperatures twenty-five to thirty degrees.  Brrr.

Patch of enormous Prickly Pear Cactus

Tortugas Mountain from the Sierra Vista Trail

Dog's-eye view

Contrail cross over Achenback Canyon

Wilderness boundary along the Sierra Vista Trail

How "ruggedness" is defined

Map at trailhead.  (Tortugas Mountain at upper left)