Trekking Hills and Dales

Starting out from the Monte Vista side of the mountain

Early this morning there were already a lot of cars in the Sunset Area parking lot so Becca and I went around to the east side of the mountain.  Deciding to hike a less-traveled single-track trail, which we hadn't done in quite a while, we missed a cutoff and ended up hiking a mile-and-a-half further than planned.  But it turned out to be just more of a good thing.  Even though it was 24F when we left the house the sun was in full shining mode and, because I was dressed properly, I didn't feel at all cold.  The route we chose, though, is through a rugged section of desert that has many hills and valleys, so we got a good bit of exercise this morning.  The trek was so much fun I may suggest to Dr. K that we all do it tomorrow.

A couple of Sotols growing up high

Becca behind the mountain

Loggerhead Shrike

There's a trail up through that draw

Follow the trail to the southwest

Little yucca forest

Sparrows in a yucca

Okay, I got carried away with the sparrows

Really went overboard with the sparrows in a yucca motif

One last sparrow shot

Looking up the backside of the mountain :)

Mountain biking in the desert

Distant mountain bikers

Looking for critters here

Looking for critters there

Posing for a Hollywood dog portrait

Tortugas Mountain from far to the east

Becca trekking down the single-track

How steep is the east side of Tortugas Mountain?

Heading back toward the mountain

Lots of pics of Becca hiking ahead of me

Some of the hills to which I'm referring

We followed this trail from back on that tableland

Really getting ahead of me

We'll follow this trail to where the mountain slopes into the lower desert

What does Becca see?

We had a nice encounter with this guy and his well-behaved Pitbull

Still a lot of trekking to do

Descending to the lower desert

You can see the trail along the base of the mountain

As we came over a ridge this yucca made Becca a bit trepidatious

Looking back at the way we just came

Making our way east around Tortugas Mountain

Trail to the Organ Mountains