War Games

Sky at start

Early this morning Becca and I wandered right into the middle of an R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) training exercise.  We had already spotted their canopy tent in the outback, but it was Becca who tipped me off to the presence of camouflaged cadets.  One--a young woman--approached us to say there were cadets practicing with rifles (unloaded) in the direction we were headed.  We avoided them, though, by taking the Crosscut Trail to the south.  Later, near the end of our hike, we spotted four other cadets near the road leading to the mountaintop.  They were standing around, waiting, no doubt, for the morning exercise to come to an end.

Desert west of Tortugas

The mountain's western slope

Until I picked this up I didn't realize it was a fabric flower

Mostly cloud much of the way

Cloud over the Organ Mountains

Remnant

Our first sighting of the canopy tent

South to Bishop Cap

Distant Organs

Becca's quite disturbed by something she sees

Soaptree Yucca and the mountains

What Becca saw:  an R.O.T.C. cadet checking GPS or his iPhone

Further west of the mountains

Colorful Ocotillo wands

Becca is ever vigilant

Our second sighting of the tent, which blends into the desert terrain

Looking north

Field of Ocotillos

Looking through one

Leaves turning red

Bishop Cap

Heading back to the mountain

R.O.T.C. cadets hurrying up and waiting

One last look at the sky over Bishop Cap