Windy Day on the Osha Trail

At the Osha Trail trailhead

It took Dr. K, Becca and me fifteen minutes to drive from our cabin to the trailhead at the Osha Trail just shy of Cloudcroft, New Mexico.  There was nobody else around when we started off in a heavy wind with very strong gusts.  The wind chilled the air significantly, but it never felt really cold.  We were pleased to discover that forest service workers had removed all but one of the large trees that had blocked the trail after an earlier storm; those trees had made our previous hike on the Osha quite perilous.

We encountered two hikers--a man and woman--about two-thirds of the way through our trek, and, as is often the case, they stopped to comment about how well-behaved Becca is; they were very pleasant, and it was nice to bump into them.  The only other people we saw, a man and woman with two dogs on leads, we met on the way back down to the parking area.  Despite the windy conditions--which were less noticeable on the far side of the mountain--we had a wonderful hike on one of our favorite high-country trails.

Becca leading the way up the first steep incline

Hurry it up, will you?

View of distant White Sands

Becca Bumppo leading the way

A stretch of Osha Trail

Into the greenery

Beautiful green leaves

Bear Corn, aka Squawroot (Conopholis americana)

Bear Corn is a non-photosynthesizing parasitic plant

Black-throated Hummingbird

Black-throated Hummingbird

This and the next:  Prickly Roses

Nearly 9,000 feet along the Osha Trail

White Sands in the distance

Trail in B&W

The only fallen log the forest service hasn't removed

Narrow in sections

Showing the way

Somebody is having a good time

Aspens starting to leaf out

Says it all

This way to the meadow

Whiteys

Moving along at high altitude

Green, green grass

Sun-touched leaves

Huge meadow just off the Osha Trail

Becca loves it up here

Thanks for making it easy

Could be a young Townsend's Solitaire

Tent caterpillars

Burro Avenue, Cloudcroft, New Mexico