Moody Monday

The road in

Heavily overcast morning as Willow, Frio and I made our way up to Second Arroyo where we stopped for a brief water break.  Then it was a bushwhack across to First Arroyo and a climb to the hill just south of it.

From there we followed an animal trail west and southwest along the ridgeline until we intersected with LDR.  We headed south on the long dirt road until we crested the hill in the upper flatland where the CR-V was parked.

We saw no humans or dogs, but we did have two encounters with critters:  a Black-tailed Jackrabbit who crossed the trail far enough ahead  of us to not arouse the Heelers excessively, and a very close encounter with a covey of quail who were wise enough to stay relatively calm in the cover of the dense desert chaparral.

By the time we reached our vehicle the sun was shining brightly.

This and the next:  patches of blue

This and the next:  computer-enhanced experiment

This meat has gone bad (kidding--it's a rock)

This and the next 4:  same Claret Cup Cactus

Computer-enhanced image

This and the next:  Willow and Frio

Soaptree

Bushwhacking up to a hill north of First Arroyo

This and the next:  Gambel's Quail

This and the next 2:  different Claret Cup Cactus

This & the next:  fork in the road & the Doña Ana Mountains