Anxiety and Relief

Starting off down LDR-A

The anxiety we sometimes feel on a weekend hike stems from incidents we've experienced in the recent past at this particular hiking spot:  idiots pulling donuts with their SUVs in the major east/west arroyo, shooters blasting away at the dumped refrigerator and stove that should have been picked up by the county months ago, ATVs speeding up the long dirt road while kicking up tornadoes of dust in their wake.  Although we heard a shooter out east in the desert and saw two ATVs on the far side of Tellbrook we encountered none of the above-mentioned morons this morning.

We did see two separate hiking couples coming and going while we did our usual trek, but we bumped into neither.  We did have a close encounter of the fourth kind with a Black-tailed Jackrabbit that sped across the trail just ahead of us on our way back, which nearly resulted in both my arms being ripped out at the socket from Frio and Willow lunging forward to chase the hare.

Although the weather was hot--we're headed for a high of 101F--we managed to finish out outing without experiencing too much discomfort, partly because of a slight breeze that turned into a wind in the high flatland.

Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

Long view of the mountains

This and the next:  closer views of the mountains

Willow and Frio

This and the next 2:  Soaptree Yucca stalk

Second Arroyo

Heelers and Dr. K

Crown Dancers

South bank of Second Arroyo

Yucca part

This and the next:  almost all the way back on LDR-A

Another long view

Ocotillos losing their luster

This and the last:  view from the high flatland