Back in Synch

Trail over to the Sunset Area

Becca and I started early on our hike west of Tortugas Mountain this morning; we wanted to get a jump on the heat.  We're supposed to hit 99F today.  Surprisingly, there were only a few people out there before us.  We saw a distant mountain biker and, later, a guy running with two dogs up the road to the top of Tortugas.

When we were heading back Becca spotted our buddy Jimmy down near the intersection of the road and the trail over to the Sunset Area, and she hurried ahead to greet him.  To Becca almost nothing could be better than running into Jimmy out in the desert; she might choose food over him, but not much else.

He and I chatted for a bit while Becca lay on the dirt road.  He told me he'd spotted a huge Nipple Beehive Cactus down in the area where the Night-blooming Cereus grows, and he told me how to find it.  Later, after we'd parted company, I kept an eye out for the Nipple Beehive, and, sure enough, it was exactly where he said it would be.  It was a large specimen that--even though I've walked past it hundreds of times--I'd never seen before.

This and the next:  same Barrel Cactus buds

Picacho Peak

"Solarize" filter

Trail up the mountain

Part of Las Cruces

"Solarized" Twinleaf Senna

Normal Twinleaf Senna

Becca enjoying a break

Spectaclepod flowers

Tall Soaptree Yucca

Large Ocotillo

Desert Marigold

Las Tunas

Small bouquet of Twinleaf Senna

Two views of a huge Ocotillo

#2

♫ There were Ocotillos on a hill . . . ♫