A Change Has Come

At the quarry

Another totally different day this morning:  partly cloudy and blustery.  Yesterday I was able to remove two layers of outerwear; today I never took off any of three layers of outerwear; also, I never put the ear flaps on my hat up during the entire trek.

There were other intrepid outdoor enthusiasts on and about the mountain, but I had no direct encounter with any.  It may have had something to do with the route I chose to follow:  up the trail east of the Sunset Area parking lot past the old rock quarry to the saddle overlooking a distant view of the Organ Mountains.

Then I doubled back and trekked along the high trail on the west side of Tortugas, dropping down to the lower desert and following the path along the arroyo.  I did a bit of bushwhacking over to the Lineworkers' grounds before circling north to Geothermal Road, which I followed back to the mountain and down the road to the gate.  From there it was a quick jaunt on the route to the entrance road where I left Whitey the CR-V.

Holey rock

Organ Mountains with cloud cover

This and the next:  quarry on the mountain's northwest side

Tortugas Mountain's steep northwest slope

Across the Mesilla Valley

What a sky

High trail

Low trail

Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus

The long view

Torrey Yuccas

Geothermal Road

Looking the other way on Geothermal Road

Spot the dove

Heading back