Rained On, Shined On, Blown Upon

Last night's rainbow

This morning, almost as soon as we started hiking along the arroyo just west of Tortugas Mountain, Becca and I got rained on.  It didn't come down hard or heavy, but the precipitation was persistent enough for me to put the rain cover on my camera.  When the rain stopped the sun came out, forcing me to take off my light windbreaker.  Then, about two-thirds of the way through our trek, the wind really kicked up.  It almost got cool enough to break out the windbreaker again, but I decided to leave it in my daypack.  Despite the disparate weather conditions we had a good long hike.

Early-morning clouds

Coming down the mountain

American flag at the Lineman School

The road west of Tortugas

Posing west of the mountain

Leafy Ocotillos on a hill west of the Tortoise

Desert Marigolds are blooming all over the place

Clouds building

Heading up a large arroyo toward Tortugas Mountain

Desert greenery in an arroyo

The Tortoise

Cumulus accumulating

Torrey Yucca

Same pose, different position

Pineapple-like fruit on a Barrel Cactus

Heavy clouds over the Organ Mountains

Ocotillo thick with leaves

Each Ocotillo wand is nearly three inches across

Desert Marigolds