A Very Crowded Saturday

First 3:  views while hiking south on the west side of Tortugas Mountain

I reached the Sunset Area on the west side of Tortugas Mountain just after 7:30 this morning only to discover a nearly full parking lot; and there were lines of hikers already filing up the mountain on several different trails.  Loud voices and some laughter greeted me, but nothing too distracting.

There were no people where I ended up halfway through my morning trek:  far in the outback after bushwhacking and following faint animal trails.  I'm always hoping for larger mammal sightings, but no such luck this morning.  I have no problem only encountering all the other usual desert critters because I delight in seeing them as well.

On the final leg of my hike, while heading back to Whitey the CR-V, I noticed that the Sunset Area was even more crowded than before, with cars packed into the parking lot and a slew of other vehicles stationed alongside the entry road as well as in the parking area next to Dripping Springs Road.

Soaptree in black-and-white

This and the next:  opposite views from the same spot in an arroyo

Hiking out of the arroyo

Trying to find the animal trail I'd been following

Crime scene?

Soaptree Yucca and Creosote Bush

This and the next:  Cactus Wren

The beak says, "Crissal Thrasher"

I've got to get a closer look at this one

Oops

The rest:  same Loggerhead Shrike after flying to an Ocotillo branch