Big Rain

Devil's Head (Echinocactus horizonthalonius)

Officially there was nothing in the rain gauge at the Las Cruces International Airport yesterday, but starting at about 4:00 p.m. we got a storm that lasted nearly an hour and dumped copious amounts of rain on our section of the Chihuahuan Desert.  It was obvious when Becca and I got out to Tortugas Mountain this morning that this area was also hard hit.  Evidence of heavy water flow was everywhere, especially on the single-track trail that drops out of the high foothills into the lower desert.  This steep trail was gouged deeply by fast-running water that swept rocks and mud down the mountainside.

Devil's Head and kid (bottom center)

Clouds over Las Cruces, New Mexico

Wind-blown clouds over the Organ Mountains

Who's coming down the trail?  Oh, it's high school track runners

These kind of clouds always remind me of Roadrunner cartoons

The distant Organ Mountains

There are those clouds again

Best friend

Bushwhacking 101:  You can make it through here

Flower buds on a Nipple Beehive Cactus (Coryphantha macromeris)

Allthorn (Koeberlinia spinosa)

Metallic Green Bee enjoying Allthorn flowers

Bee or wasp on Allthorn

West side of Tortugas Mountain

Large Hedgehog Cactus

An idea of how deeply rutted the trail is from yesterday's rain

The rain scoured this single-track

Obviously we had to hike at the side of the trail

This Devil's Head recently had three flowers

A flower opening on a Nipple Beehive Cactus