Hike Before Work

Hiking south on the zig-zag trail

Becca and I took a long hike west of Tortugas Mountain this morning, and as we were descending from the upper foothills we crossed paths with a woman hiker who asked how old Becca was before talking about her 14-year-old male dog who could no longer hike with her because of old age.  She said that they had been big-time hiking buddies, and she said the trail we were on was the last hike they'd done together.  After Becca and I finished our trek I had to get home to start doing some yard work projects I'd been putting off for too long.  Since our garbage dumpster hadn't been emptied yet (pickup is Thursday morning) I was able to trim a lot of Creosote and other bushes and put the clippings in before the garbage truck came along.  I still have a lot of work to do.

Becca sees someone on the mountain road

Lots of Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus here

The flank of Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

In the foreground Tiquilia greggii (aka "Plumed Crinklemat")

Closeup of Plumed Crinklemat

Alongside a gully on the western slope

The gully deepens into a small canyon here

Take me to your leader

Could be the beach

Senna

We needed more cloud cover

Bishop Cap on the left horizon, Franklin Mts. near El Paso on the right

Dayflowers growing in an arroyo

The arroyo where the Dayflowers grow

You should know by now

Barrel Cactus

Closeup of the Barrel Cactus flowers

We stopped for a water break here

Tallest Soaptree Yucca in this section of the desert:  15 to 20 feet

Doesn't look to be a comfortable spot to lie down

Cholla blooming on our property

Same Cholla flower