Heating UP

Out on the dirt road around Tortugas

It's hot enough now that the clothing order-of-the-day was short-sleeve Craghoppers shirt and cargo shorts.  Didn't feel chilly once.  I keep thinking I'll stop taking photos of flowers because I've taken so many already, but I can't help myself.  There's a lot of colorful beauty in the desert these days, and I guess I feel a need to try to capture it.  Becca and I ran into two separate hikers this morning--man and woman--and the Beckster was perfectly well behaved in both instances. lying at the side of the trail until each hiker had passed by.

Strawberry Pitaya Cactus

Tortugas (left) and the Organ Mountains

The far end of the outer loop road

An orange Prickly Pear flower

Somewhere between yellow and orange

Shade seeker

Shade-seeking missile

Barely fitting into the shade of a Soaptree Yucca

Typical Chihuahuan Desert vista

Blind Prickly Pear Cactus outside our bedroom window

Blind Prickly Pear flowers

Lizard on a railroad tie

Blind Prickly Pear (so-called because stickers temporarily blind cows)