East Side of the Mountain

I'd love to see these all blooming at the same time

Becca and I bypassed the Sunset side of Tortugas Mountain this morning because it was already packed before 8 a.m.  On the Monte Vista side only a few vehicles were in the parking lot.  During our extended trek we only ran into three people:  two men each hiking alone and a woman hiker who had a black Pitbull.  At a distance we saw a man and woman hiking with a dog, but we didn't encounter them.  When we got back home it was time to give Becca a bath; fortunately Dr. K was there to help.  Becca is really well behaved during a bath, but she always shakes water off of her coat a few times to make sure we get wet, too.

Carried away with cairns (the one at right looks like Paul Revere)

Southeast side of Tortugas Mountain

Boulders on the slope

Trail through the high desert

Tallest yucca is sending up a flower stalk

Here it is

On the trail through a small yucca forest

Don't know why so many yuccas grow here

The long view

Coming?

South of the mountain

Desert behind Tortugas

Pyrrhuloxia (aka "Desert Cardinal")

This Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus) reminds me of Marty Feldman

What's this creeping through the desert?

Take this road

What's up there?

Torrey Yucca in bloom behind the mountain

Torrey Yucca (Yucca torreyi)

Torrey Yucca in bloom

There's a patient dog waiting in this photo

Guess I like this yucca

I see what I'm doing here . . .

. . . but what am I doing here?

Same yucca

Rock Wren (Salpinctes obsoletus)