Web Collector

What have we here?

The problem with getting an early start on a morning hike in the desert--especially if you plan to do any bushwhacking between Creosote Bushes--is that you're likely to be a collector of spider webs.  I think I snagged enough to knit a cardigan sweater out of the threads.  Seriously, though, I don't have the patience for knitting.  Becca and I, however, patiently trekked through the desert on the east and south side of Tortugas Mountain today, making sure to take plenty of shade and water breaks.  She drank nearly a whole bottle on our hike, which was the exact same excursion we made yesterday.  But unlike yesterday, when we encountered three people, we ran into nobody during our outing.

It's a Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)

Opposite profile

Craggy east side of Tortugas Mountain

Wrapping behind the mountain now

Rudely departed before I'd had proper time to focus

Don't know why these boulders are appealing

I suspect volcanism

Making like a Coyote (actually snapping at flies)

Shade seeker

That trail on the mountain is the site of past fluorite mining activity

Taking a well-deserved break

The trail goes this way

Torrey Yuccas on the plateau

Taking a break alongside the trail that wraps around Tortugas Mountain

What's with me and the yuccas?

A couple of greened-out Ocotillos

I'm guessing this is a sedimentary breccia

A look at the boulder from the other side