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Sunday, December 9, 2012

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)

3 comments:

Dr. K said...

It was a beautiful clear day--the calm before the storm.

Scott said...

Beautiful blue skies! We've had drizzly, soggy, misty, foggy, rainy...yucky...weather since Friday morning, but we really need the rain--we're about 25% below normal.

packrat said...

We sure could use some of that rain, Scott.

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