Frosty Start

Not thick enough to scrape

It was 22 degrees Fahrenheit when Becca and I hit the trail west of Tortugas Mountain at about 7:30 this morning.  There was only one other vehicle in the Sunset Area parking lot.  It felt pretty cold in the desert this morning, but, fortunately, there wasn't any wind to make conditions worse.  We had a nice moderately-long trek west of the mountain, running into nobody in the outback.  When we returned to the car there were only three other vehicles parked nearby.  Not surprisingly people were waiting for the day to warm up before venturing outside.

You'd never know it's ten degrees below freezing out here

One trail up Tortugas Mountain

Contrarian

Loop trail west of the mountain

Florida Mountains near Deming, New Mexico (60 miles from here)

Allthorn's silhouette

Allthorn

In the high foothills

Things not to touch in the desert

Something moved over yonder

Something else not to touch in the desert

Eat at your own peril

Catching some rays in the Chihuahuan Desert

Frigid Trek

Sunset last night

We awoke to a slight dusting of snow this morning, but the major issue was the wind.  It was supposed to abate overnight, but it was strong this morning.  Because the temperature was just below freezing during our hike, the gusty conditions made for an unpleasant trek despite fairly abundant sunshine.  We did the entire length of the Grand View Trail nonetheless; we left straight from there for the lower desert, where it's also quite windy.  Lows in the Las Cruces area will be in the mid-20s for most of the week.

Dusting of snow

Where the snow stops and Becca begins

Smattering of snow in Haynes Canyon

Moseying along the Grand View again

Looking down into the Tularosa Basin

Clouds tell the story of the wind

Hiking the high desert

White Sands on the horizon

Much more blue sky this morning

Catching up with Dr. K

Pleasant vista

Sumac leaves

Becca is enjoying her high country trek

Down a wide section of the trail

Try to keep up, will you?

Sun-dappled mountains

Old railroad bed, part of the New Mexico Rails-to-Trails reclamation

Heading back to the trailhead

Here Comes the Snow

Last night's sunset

We're under a high wind warning all day today, but we lucked out (relatively speaking) this morning in that it was only moderately bad.  Still the temperature was below freezing when Dr. K, Becca and I hit the Grand View Trail.  Good thing we were properly equipped with the right clothing.  All things considered we had a good trek today.  On the way back we stopped at the High Rolls General Store for bottled water and pretzels.  That's what we're living on these days.

Snowfall over Haynes Canyon

On our back 40 (yards, that is)

Another look at the weather in the canyon

Storm in the higher elevations

Out on the Grand View Trail

Cold, crisp and windy this morning

Decidedly winterlike to the north

Dr. K is appropriately dressed for the wintry conditions

Slightly ominous over the mountains

What's up there?

The quick way down if you're carrying a zip line harness

Looks like a flycatcher

Get me out of this quicksand :)

Becca and Dr. K

Fall colors on Three-leaf Sumac

The view to White Sands

At the halfway house

Hedgehog Cactus growing out of a cliff face

Headed back now

An area strewn with boulders

Bird in a tree

Tree

Guess I'm obsessed with the view of Haynes Canyon today