Morning Chill

Bicolor FanMustard (Velvety nerisyrenia)

It was about 60F when Becca and I hit the trail this morning, and the chill was a definite harbinger of autumn--a brief harbinger, this being the Chihuahuan Desert and all.  By the time we reached the upper foothills at a little past 7:30 things had already begun to heat up.  We met a man and woman there who had just returned from an extended stay in Wisconsin; they couldn't get over how green our desert had become.  We parted company after a brief conversation about the proliferation of Chinchweed.  In order not to make the same mistake I made yesterday, i.e. trekking a bit too far in rapidly warming conditions, I cut the hike a little short.  Becca and I got in a significant amount of exercise without overheating. 

The leaves of that Ocotillo are nearly all yellow

Bicolor Fanmustard

Becca in the upper foothills

Tortugas's western flank and the Organ Mountains from the high foothills

Too many brews last night

Blanket of Chinchweed

Me and my shadow

Respite

Woolly Paperflower, Trailing Four O'Clock and Chinchweed

Same

How to take a break in the desert

Hairy False Goldenaster (Heterotheca villosa)