The Long Way Round

Back behind Tortugas

Starting from the Monte Vista area on Tortugas's east side Dr. K, Becca and I hiked three-fourths of the way around the mountain before turning back on the outer loop road.  We hiked that way until we saw a man mountain biking with his young son ahead of us; and because they kept stopping on the trail we made a detour, climbing back up to the inner loop.  It added only a short extra distance to our trek, but it was worth it to avoid an encounter.  Not that we're antisocial you understand, but we don't want to engage in idle chitchat when we're doing serious trekking.  :)

Rocky grassland south of the mountain

Having a good long look across the desert

Where the trail begins to wrap around the Tortoise

View from outside a rock shelter

Slashing across Tortugas's southern flank

On the outer loop road

A section of the inner loop road is visible at the center of this image

Scouting for critters and other people

Picking these flowers would be a thorny prospect

This and those that follow:  Mexican Gold Poppies

Pointed back to the Organ Mountains

Striking ahead on the return trip

Closeup of Torrey Yuccas