At the National Monument

Which bird sits atop that yucca?

Dr. K, Becca and I headed out to Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument this morning for a moderately long hike on the Sierra Vista Trail (Norte).  The campground was relatively full with RVs, including one type I'd never seen before.  There were other outdoor enthusiasts enjoying the area on a beautiful Sunday morning, the weather so much different than it was yesterday when it snowed and rained.  After our trek we decided to drive out along Baylor Canyon Road to scope out the poppy bloom Becca and I had seen a few days earlier.  It was too early in the day for the poppies to be fully open, and Dr. K pointed out that poppies weren't the only flowers blooming there, but an equal, if not greater, number of the flowering plants were Fendler's Bladderpod.  Regardless, the carpet of yellow flowers was beautiful.

Looking more familiar

Almost positive now

Yep--it's a Desert Cardinal

Striking ahead

Barrel Cactus

View toward the Organs

Yellow Desert Evening Primrose

Two looks at those sinuous hills below the mountains

#2

It's the count the barrels game

More counting of barrels

Trying to locate a coyote who had the campground dogs barking

These are maximum telephoto shots

Hard to hold the camera steady

Yipping up a storm

Barrel Cactus Mouseketeer?

Binary barrel

Trinary barrel

Who's that blending in?

Heading toward the mountains

Send in the clones

Do not dance cheek-to-cheek with a Barrel Cactus

We're counting barrels again

Desert Verbena

Becca spots bikers

She can't take her eyes off of them

Closer to the Organs

Slightly different perspective

We've never seen this type of RV before

Jet over the mountains #1

#2

Bit of snow up there

Big barrel and its little buddy

Some snowy patches

Rainwater captured in a Prickly Pear pad

Heading back

This and the next:  Fendler's Bladderpod

#2

Two hikers enjoying OMDPNM

Poppy and Popweed (Bladerpod) bloom

Looking northwest

A bit closer on that yucca