A Hard Rain

Evidence of heavy flow in an arroyo west of Tortugas Mountain

We got rain overnight at our place, but it must have stormed really hard over Tortugas Mountain because evidence of heavy rain was abundant everywhere (as evidenced by some of these photos).  These kinds of scattered thunderstorms are really crazy at times here in the Desert Southwest; it's almost a truism that it can be pouring on one side of the street while nothing's coming down on the other.  The overnight rain made for humid, but cool hiking conditions this morning, and Becca and I took a good long trek west of the mountain.  More rain is a distinct possibility for later today.

Same arroyo looking the other way

This is actually a dirt road west of the mountain

Weather conditions when we started out this morning

As is often the case it was clearer to the west

Trail to the clouds

What it looks like from the upper foothills

Headed down a deeply-rutted single-track trail

Rainwater carried large stones downward

Almost a small sinkhole in the trail

Following the trail west

The vista back toward Tortugas

The storm created heavy mud in arroyos around the mountain

As long as we're hiking Becca doesn't care if it's wet or dry

Odd-shaped cloud in the western sky

A little darker toward the southwest

Promise of future rain?

Organ Mountains

Hedgehog and yucca

Almost there

Rainwater out of the mountain ran here overnight

Dynamic sky

Long dirt road heading west

Bishop Cap

Desert terrain just went of Tortugas

Female Bullock's Oriole

Female Bullock's Oriole (same individual)

Female Bullock's Oriole (same individual)

The desert beside our house