Getting Past the Hump

The lone yucca

Becca and I did a much longer hike this morning, trekking across the western flank of the mountain into the high foothills.  From there we dropped into the lower desert and paralleled the west side of Tortugas for a mile before taking the dirt road directly west.  When we hit the Crosscut Trail we crossed along to the other dirt road, struck back toward the mountain, but veered north on the dirt road leading to Geothermal.  Before reaching the lineman grounds, though, we bushwhacked a short way through the desert to reach the trail alongside the mountain, and we followed it back toward the trailhead.  About a quarter mile from our car we bumped into our pal Jimmy, and he and I stood talking for a good half hour.

Bulldozing the mountain road

Two inch thick Ocotillo branch

Moseying along

Cowboy buried from the waist up?

Far west of the mountain

Closing in a bit

View from within an arroyo

Soaptree Yucca seed pods

Seed pods

Soaptree Yucca

Exploring a narrow arroyo

Becca loves arroyos

This arroyo flows out of Tortugas Mountain when the rains come

Ocotillos and Soaptree Yuccas