Heading for Bridal Veil Falls

Somebody's cabin above the Bridal Veil Falls Trail

Dr. K, Becca and I did a two-hour hike on the Bridal Veil Falls Trail outside of High Rolls this morning, and during that entire time we ran into nobody else.  We had the whole canyon to ourselves.  It was chilly, but sunny for starts.  Then the leading edge of a cold front pushed in and clouded the sun out.  The winds picked up and made it colder.  We made it back home before the bad weather hit, though.  When we got here we were greeted by Becca's buddies Champ and Cowboy.  They all played for a short while.  After they'd gone the sky got really dark and pea-sized hail began to fall pretty hard.  It lasted long enough to make the surrounding area snow white.  Now (early afternoon) the sun is out again and most of the hail has melted.  Crazy mountain weather.

Old trestle of the Alamogordo & Sacramento Mountains Railroad

Side view of trestle columns

Footbridge over Fresnal Creek

Closeup of columns

Headed down canyon

Pinyon and juniper country

Tall timber higher up

Small pines getting their start alongside the trail

We'll be crossing through that gorge shortly

Dr. K and Becca headed out of the gorge

Dilapidated homestead near the falls

Ramada below the falls

Trees in bloom near the falls

Beautiful white and pin blossoms

These flowers grace the trees along the creek

The sky is indicative of the cold front blowing through

Looking a little ominous on our return trip

Not and elephant tusk

Here comes Champ to greet us

And here's Cowboy

Becca running to catch up to her friends

How about a little playtime?

Champ is the nicest Lab we know

This is what started up an hour after our return

Snow pellets followed by heavy hail

The aftermath