Putrefacton

The view over Tortugas Mountain

Early this morning Becca and I were hiking on the west side of Tortugas Mountain heading north on the loop road.  The wind was directly in our faces, and we both got a whiff of the stench of rotting flesh.  Even though we were several hundred yards away I knew the odor emanated from our pal the dead Coyote who we'd discovered several days ago.  Yesterday I noticed that his corpse was quite bloated, and today it was evident that the process of putrefaction was well under way.  Once you get a noseful of that malodor it's hard to get it out of your olfactory sense, making it obvious why you might want to carry "a pocket full of posies."

Hard to believe it's mid-November

High-elevation cactus garden

Odd impressions in a rock

Northwest of the mountains

Fruit of the Christmas Cactus

Buggy Whips, aka Ocotillo branches

Mid-November morning, Chihuahuan Desert

Shades of spring in autumn

Heading back up the mountain trail

Surveying west of Tortugas Mountain