Another Long Solo

Starting off in an arroyo

I went east in the major arroyo just off Geothermal Road this morning and bushwhacked northward across the desert hills to the northernmost dirt road to Tortugas Mountain.  I followed that road until it intersected with the road that heads south across the southernmost dirt road terminating at Tellbrook.  Before reaching the southernmost dirt road, though, I turned east into a small arroyo that intersects the Crosscut Trail.

Turning south on the Crosscut I headed up to the southernmost dirt road and followed it to the outermost dirt road that loops around Tortugas Mountain.  At the intersection with the northernmost dirt road I headed west along it all the way to Geothermal.

From there it was a quick jaunt westward until I reached the parking area next to the gate where I'd left the Jeep Commander.

Cactus Wren in a Mesquite Tree

Weather at start

You can follow it to the mountaintop

Desert Flora

Flank of Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

Branching out on one's own

This and the next:  desert roads

A different arroyo west of the mountain

This and the next:  Wooly Paperflowers turning to paper

Just north of a small arroyo

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Curve-billed Thrasher

The long view of Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

This and the next:  perhaps the tallest Ocotillo I've ever seen

I'm 5' 11"