A Good Broiling

First 4:  sun on Ocotillos

Becca and I got a very early start because I realized the heat index was going to be high this morning.  We had rain in the early evening yesterday, and the humidity was skyrocketing when we got up--85%.

There were no clouds to block the sun when we got out to the west side of the mountain, so conditions were bad; with no breeze, strong sunshine and high humidity Becca and I were broiling almost immediately.  That's why she chose to bushwhack over to her favorite shady spot in the sand where she plopped down and spent a good long while cooling off.

Few people were out in the hot weather, and we crossed paths only with one guy who we see frequently on the west side of the mountain.  To him I said, "It's a bit humid this morning."  "It is," he said.  That was the extent of our human interaction in our section of the northern Chihuahuan Desert on this hot summer day.

4 ripe and one getting there

This and the next:  same scene, different zoom

The trail goes that way . . .

. . . but Becca wants to bushwhack over . . .

. . . to this shady spot

Chihuahuan Desert scene

Rayless flowers

White-winged Dove

Slightly west of the mountain

Becca leading the way

View to the southwest

Distant mountains

Two different exposures of Paperflower

#2

What's blooming?

This and the next:  Desert Zinnia

Small arroyo west of Tortugas Mountain

Black-throated Sparrow on a yucca