Jam-Packed West Side

Cottontail fleeing evil Grackle at waterhole

I don't know what was happening on the west side of the mountain this morning, but when Becca and I got there at about 7:30 the Sunset Parking lot was full and cars were lined up along the entrance road.  So we headed around to the other side of the mountain where there was only one car in the Monte Vista parking lot, and that person left as soon as we started off on the trail clockwise around Tortugas.  With the exception of the two bikers we encountered we saw nobody else on that side of the mountain.  It was like being in an uninhabited country.

Mexican Bird of Paradise

Trail on the high plateau

Scaled Quail

Becca on the trail that circumnavigates the mountain

On the horizon 40 miles distant:  the Franklin Mountains near El Paso, TX

Happy hiking around the mountain

Bud

Mountain biker on a difficult stretch

High on a cliff

Scott's Oriole

Same Scott's Oriole

Looking toward the sun at the Organ Mountains

The cactus-studded flank of Tortugas Mountain and the Organ Mountains

Mormon Tea flowers

Mormon Tea flower

Rose-like flowers of Mormon Tea

Stark

A little less stark

Road to the edge of the mountain

The Organ Mountains look like colored-paper cutouts

Apache Plume

Apache Plume

Apache Plume

90-degree change in direction

Closer look at the angle

Almost back to the car