Finding a Doughnut Hole

Now I know where to find the pot of gold

At about 10:10 a.m. the rain began to lighten up, and I decided that Becca and I would chance a short hike; I had already consulted the weather radar map, and there seemed to be an upcoming doughnut hole.  To our surprise (well, to mine anyway) we were able to do a moderately-long trek west of Tortugas Mountain without getting rained upon.  The desert was quite wet and muddy, but we didn't mind.  There was nobody out and about when we started off, and only a few people had showed up at the Sunset Area parking lot by the time we finished our hike.

Reflection in a desert puddle

Very wet Chihuahuan Desert

Hiking up a muddy trail

Sky to the north becoming interesting

Old experimental towers

Wet trail up the mountain

Carefully watching weather developments

Wind moving weather parallel to us

Surprise, surprise:  the sun makes an appearance

It just keeps looking bad up north

We're bound to see more precipitation today

Rainwater in the cup of a dead Prickly Pear pad

Picacho Peak

Big puddles in the Chihuahuan Desert

Don't even think about it

Becca did walk through a couple of smaller puddles this morning

Now it's looking ominous to the south

We needed this kind of soaking

Abundant precipitation:  just what the desert flora ordered

On the road west of Tortugas Mountain

Pretty Purple Prickly Pear patch