Our Regular Walkabout

West of Tortugas

Becca and I got an early start on a routine trek this morning, hiking alongside Tortugas Mountain's western flank, climbing the trail into the upper foothills, dropping west into the lower desert, and then following the outer loop road to the road heading westward into the more distant desert.  We then took the trail that cuts across between two almost parallel dirt roads until we reached the intersection with the single-track leading east back into the high foothills.  We reversed our route from there and returned to the car after about 90 minutes of trekking.  The weather was perfect:  a chilly 45F at start, and then warming up enough for me to remove my Marmot PreCip jacket about midway through the hike.

Ocotillo runes

Interesting shapes

Claret Cup blossom

The only blossom on the cactus

Ocotillo

Flower stalk rising

Torrey Yucca

Triple header

Same Torrey Yucca

Closeup of the left two flower heads

There's the triple header again

Crossing between dirt roads

Mormon Tea

Starting back up the mountain

Wait--is somebody behind us?