Before the Shower

Crossing through an arroyo

Becca and I headed to the far side of Tortugas Mountain this morning and began our hike out of the Monte Vista area; there were several cars in the parking lot already.  Although we saw a few outdoor enthusiasts we didn't run into anybody.  When we left our house it looked as if it would be sunny today, but as we closed in on the mountain the weather became progressively more cloudy.  It didn't start raining, though, until we got back home and were there a while; in fact, I had just finished washing all the windows on the RAV4 when the first of several showers began.

Another cloudy start

Sun trying to get through

What's this?

Oh--someone's building cairns again

A distant figure

Could be the monk of the mountain

Naw--just the cairn from the other side

Those clouds carry the promise of rain

Closer look at the boulders

There's some blue sky

No telling what I'm doing at times

View to the north

Small mesquite tree

Bishop Cap

Organ Mountains (left) and the Franklin Mountains near El Paso

Roiling clouds

Climbing a rugged trail

Sunbeams over the Organs

Looking back at the way we just came

Scouting out the territory

We're headed south on a lightly traveled trail

Organ Mountains

The long view

Shadow and light

That would give me a kink

Crater?

Closing in on the mountain again

Road east of Tortugas

Getting more blue sky

Clearing

On the Trail Again

The way the sky has looked all day

Becca and I got an early start on our trek this morning because I wanted to get in a decent hike before returning home to shower and keep a 10:30 appointment with the doctor I saw two days ago.  She wanted a follow-up to make sure my insect bites were responding to treatment.  They have responded well, but the antibiotic has done a real number on my GI tract, which antibiotics often to do me.  Nevertheless, Becca and I had a good time on our outing, especially because the sky was overcast and there was a slight breeze.  Very un-desert-like here in the northern Chihuahuan Desert.

I think there's a chance of rain in the late afternoon

Scott's Oriole on a dead yucca bayonet

West side of Tortugas

Happy to get back into the desert after a day off

Allthorn in bloom

Is this a green bee or hoverfly?

More Allthorn flowers

Follow this trail to the sky

On the brink of a deep gully

Upper foothills trekker

Trail that heads southwest from the mountain

Above trail in B&W

Same trail, different perspective

Auditioning for a role

Ocotillo corsage

Distant trail up the mountain

Small rock and pebbles

On the mend

Rocky ridge