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| Chamisa (aka "Rabbitbrush") |
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| About a mile in |
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| Midpoint ramada |
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| A pause for the cause |
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| A section of trail that clearly displays the old railroad bed |
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| Mexican Barberry (Berberis trifoliata) has edible fruit |
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| Mexican Barberry (also known as Red Barberry) |
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| Sotol |
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| Closeup of Sotol flower stalk |
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| Hedgehog Cactus growing in rock |
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| Waiting in the shade |
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| Trekking down the trail |
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| Dead elk hoof |
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| Chihuahuan Flax |
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| Don't know what this is |
3 comments:
No matter how often we do this fairly short trail, there are always fascinating plants and vistas that we never noticed before.
The barberry looks like holly. It's so interesting how plants adapt and evolve to cope with different environments. We have lots of barberry in our woods but, of course, it's non-native Japanese barberry. I don't know if the fruits are edible or not--I've never tried them. One of the reasons the plant may be common (and becoming more so) is a result of its thorns (though even more robust thorns don't stop the deer from eating multiflora roses).
We had a very rainy spring at our Colorado house, which our landscaping contractor informed me required her to come to work on the grass and weeds more than she had originally anticipated. However, I think the rains have stopped; our homeowners' association's (HOA) manager sent an email on Monday to warn about a house fire in a part of the development across the highway from our portion of the development. The house fire (total loss) ignited a grass/scrub fire that was of concern, though the local fire companies extinguished it before it spread much. The HOA manager concluded with, "Let's hope for some rain."
Scott: It's always a concern to own a second home and not be around it when there's a potential problem. Talk about landscaping! When we got home from our hike today I had to do Yard Work Part Deux. If we're lucky we won't get a lot of rain between now and the beginning of fall, so what I've done over the past two days may get us into winter.
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