A Few Rays

The upper loop trail on the northern flank of Tortugas Mountain

When Becca and I headed out this morning for our daily trek we saw something we hadn't seen in several days:  sunshine.  And when we got out there we got to bask in sunlight on and off for the duration of our hike.  We chose to hike part of the way up the mountain on the high flank trail so I could shoot some images of the Organ Mountains, which had interesting cloud formations around them.  We were surprised to run into a guy hiking with his two young children, and to see another man climbing the mountain with his young son.  It must have been an in-service day for local school kids.  The boy and girl we encountered seemed delighted to see Becca close up, and they were very friendly when I said "good morning" to them.  It's always nice to see kids who are being raised properly.  

Yuccas on the slope

Cloudy Organ Mountains

Gives a good idea of how steep Tortugas is

More yuccas

Across a vast expanse of desert to the Organs

Trail along the flank

Desert below

One way down to Dripping Springs Road

Another fancy photo of the Organs

Here's something we haven't seen in days:  sunshine

A couple of tall Torrey Yuccas

Higher up the flank of Tortugas

The trail

High grassland

Turning around

Heading back

A glance northward

Look at the size of this Torrey Yucca

Oops

Yuccas on the slope

Picacho Peak and a section of Las Cruces, New Mexico

Dorky photo of Becca and me

Nice image of Becca

Getting close to the descending trail

On our way down