A Hike Before Changeover

In the high desert

After a moderate hike this morning I had to get up on the roof to shut down the evaporative cooler and drain its reservoir.  This is part of the ritual switchover from cooling to heat.  I did so because we have a strong cold front coming through on Wednesday.  While I was on the roof I snapped a few pics of the surrounding neighborhood, including an image of a small observatory that a resident a block away has in his yard.  When I came down I readied the furnace and fired it up for the winter season.

I believe the haze is caused by high humidity

Draining the reservoir on our evaporative cooler

Looking down from the roof at the arroyo next to our yard

Water runs off the roof through one of the canales ("canals")

Looking across the neighborhood to Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

One resident's small observatory (notice the observatory in upper left)