Bushwhack Deluxe

Getting started

When Becca and I set off this morning we intended to do a moderately-long hike on maintained trails.  But Bushwhack Fever soon gripped us, and we found ourselves exploring across the desert floor.  Out in the middle of nowhere we came across an old Torrey Yucca (image #7), and I photographed it without at first noticing that somebody had gone through the trouble of making a spoked circle of small rocks around it (image #8).  Often these circles are built for a spiritual purpose, but I have no idea what this one represented.

Fire in the Mesilla Valley

Spanish Dagger with flower stalks

Yucca #1 entrada

Sandy respite

Rodent pathway looks like a bicycle tire track

Far off the beaten track

Somebody took time to make a rock circle around this Yucca

Arroyo #2 entrada

A healthy Barrel Cactus about two feet tall

A vast stretch of desert, the Organ Mountains on the horizon

A far piece from Tortugas

Who would feast on Prickly Pear pads?  Packrats, that's who

Forest of Soaptree Yuccas

How tall are Soaptree Yuccas?  I'm 5' 11"

Blooming Yucca and the former two-dome observatory

Claret Cup Hedgehog Cactus budding and blooming