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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Steamy

I'm at a loss to explain what happened to 2/3 of the cactus on the right
Sixty-nine degrees with 91% humidity when we hit the trail around Tortugas Mountain this morning.  Even a consistent breeze didn't help to ameliorate the soupy conditions.  We did a semi-long hike out into the outback, but we were definitely second-guessing our decision to go so far.  (I'm giving Becca credit for thoughts she probably doesn't have.) The first image here presents a puzzle:  the Hedgehog Cactus on the right has two-thirds of its mass missing, but I can't imagine a scenario about how it could go missing that way.
Mesquite growing in a mound of Hedgehog Cactus

Time for a break

Looking green: an Ocotillo about twelve feet tall

Across the desert to the cloudy Organ Mountains

Hedgehog Cactus and Becca's butt

You can see the moisture in the air

A stand of Ocotillos (Oh-co-TEA-yoes)

Observatory atop Tortoise Mountain

Hedgehog Cacti and Ocotillos

Becca finds shade even where there is none

4 comments:

Scott said...

Sorry that you're suffering through "East Coast weather," Packrat--really, I am sorry because I know how miserable it is. I hope that conditions improve. The swamp cooler probably doesn't do much in such humidity.

We, actually, are enjoying a rather tolerable day (temperatures in the mid-80s, cloud cover), and it's forecast to be this way through the end of the week. I may even play hookey on Friday afternoon and visit a botanical garden with Kali if the weather remains relatively pleasant.

Scott said...

Oh... about that partial hedgehog cactus: it looks like it was vaporized by an alien ray gun!

Dr. K said...

We had a big thunderstorm last night--did some damage to houses in the area.

packrat said...

I'm not buying the ray gun explanation, Scott. Regarding what Dr. K said about houses being damanged, a microburst hit Columbus, New Mexico and completely destroyed 28 mobile homes. Thankfully nobody was injured.

Vote Day

Hedgehog cactus Allthorn in shadow Dr. K, Willow and I did our regular hike this morning.  No gunshots. After the outing we returned home, t...