Getting Cereus

This & the next:  Prickly Pear on our property

Best thing about this morning's hike:  on the way back from a trek up to First Arroyo a bright object caught my attention at the corner of my eye.  When I looked to my left I saw two flowers that made me drag the dogs into the edge of the desert at the side of LDR.  The blossoms belonged to a Night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii) about to close for the year.  It was the first I've seen in a few years, and only the second I've ever spotted in the northern Chihuahuan Desert.  I was pleased.

Another notable highlight of the trek:  an encounter with a Black-tailed Jackrabbit who was lying very still about twenty feet from the spot where Willow and Frio lay down in the shadow of the small Mesquite Tree pictured below at the side of the road.  Completely unafraid of us the American Desert Hare stood and began munching on the leaves of a Creosote Bush.  That's when Frio noticed him and jumped to his feet, followed closely by a similar maneuver from Willow.  The jackrabbit dashed across the dirt road in front of us, and I was able to easily hold the Heelers at bay.

This & the next: Prickly Pear w/mountain backdrop

This & the next:  signaling which way to taxi

Frio and Willow

Soaptree Yucca patterns

Small Mesquite Tree with leaves

In First Arroyo

Next 2:  B&W Xs

All pink & white flowers:  Night-blooming Cereus

What caught my attention at the corner of my eye

This and the next:  mesquite along LDR

Frio and Willow heading back