After the Deluge

After the deluge

What a pleasure to head out for a morning trek under no real threat of rain.  Yesterday was really something else; we got a complete and total drenching here in the Las Cruces area.  I think we set a record for precipitation:  1.65 inches.  That won't sound like much to inhabitants of other wetter climes, but for we desert dwellers it's a lot.  Even though Becca and I did not get so much as a spit job this morning, the sky to the south looked ominous for the duration of our hike.  In the high foothills we ran into the two women who walk with George the dog, his owner and, perhaps, her sister.  All three of them are extraordinarily nice, and Becca and I really like them.  It's always nice to encounter pleasant humans and their companions out in the desert.

Centennial High School and the Doña Ana Mountains

One trail up

Blue portal above the mountain

Torrey Yucca, Ocotillo and a bit of blue sky

Not so blue in other directions

Downright threatening toward the south

That's Bishop Cap nearly shrouded in clouds

Work of a dog

Clouds scudding along the base of the Organ Mountains

Long view of a cloudy desert

Two more images of clouds and the Organs

#2

A completely different scene to the northwest

Headed back

Looking south:  still gloomy

West across the Rio Grande