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