Bushwhack Deluxe #3

This and the next:  not far from the CR-V

Wils, Frio and I drove out Tellbrook to the spot we've been leaving Whitey the CR-V each morning for the past few days, and just as we were pulling into the dirt road at the side of which we park the vehicle we noticed an elderly couple with four dogs, two of whom were older Basset Hounds.

They were ambling along the dirt road, so I took my time getting the Heelers onto leads and out of the CR-V in order to give the other hikers a good headstart; and then I decided we should take a separate dirt road that parallels the one the others were walking.

We took that road all the way down to the major east/west arroyo and not long after crossing through it we started doing some serious bushwhacking.  Wils and Frio were good, neither getting entangled in Creosote Bushes or other desert flora.  We trekked through areas I've never explored before, ending up, again, in the hills west of Tortugas Mountain.  The section we passed through was a particularly beautiful stretch of northern Chihuahuan Desert, and I was glad we'd come that way.

My intention was to hike back on the long dirt road, but just as we were heading for it I noticed a vehicle driving our way on it.  So, in order to avoid the SUV, I decided more bushwhacking was in order, a decision that neither Heeler protested.  We meandered through the desert back to the large arroyo and then followed the road up to our CR-V, all of us content with our morning outing.

Headed north toward the hills west of Tortugas

Long view

Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

Bushwhacking with Heelers

Longer view of Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

Much easier bushwhacking when you find passageways like this

Wils and Frio

Frio and Wils

Soaptree Yucca and the mountains

A fairly stout Barrel Cactus

Ocotillos and the Organs

This and the next 3:  typical Chihuahuan Desert scenes

Claret Cup buds blossoming into flowers

Soaptrees

Beautiful Soaptree Yucca

Tasajillo with fruit

Wils and Frio

Another long view

This and the next:  Gypsum Scorpionweed (Phacelia integrifolia)

Organ Mountains from the west