A Trudge

Little Acacia

Not a good hike today:  hot, humid, Heelers pulling this way and that.  I would have been anxious to get the trek over with except I knew I had to climb up on the roof when we got home to see if I could discover the source of our evaporative cooler leak and repair it.

The problem with our barely two-year-old MasterCool II was a broken reservoir plug, which I was able to replace because, miraculously, I happened to have a new one I'd bought years ago.  Otherwise I'd have had to make an emergency run to Home Depot for a new part.

After working on the roof in the blazing sun for about an hour I feel slightly drained now.

Willow and Frio

Accidental Organ photo

Swainson's Hawk

Raptor Xray

Leaning Barrel Cactus

Long view down the right branch

Last 2:  Tortugas and the Organs

 

Steamed Hikers

Boomerang cloud

75F when we started off this morning, blazing sun at times, and very high humidity.  Dr. K, Willow, Frio and I were like steamed clams out there today, and we looked forward to getting the trek over with.

We did our normal hike, taking only a few short breaks along the way due to the abundance of ants.  That was agreed to by everybody because of the adverse weather conditions, and we finished our exploration more quickly than ever.

Hill west of LDR-A

Prickly Pear fruit

This & next 3:  same Barrel Cactus

Tortugas and the Organs

Organ Mountains X

Bowl of candy

View from a side arroyo

This & next 3:  same Barrel Cactus

Tortugas and the Organs

Yucca and Ocotillos

Butterfly X

 

Downpour Evidence

First 2:  Dayflower

A big rainstorm yesterday in the early evening left the atmosphere saturated with moisture, which Dr. K, Willow, Frio and I felt in abundance during our trek this morning.  Combined with blazing sun and the absence of significant wind the humidity made conditions miserable for a desert hike.

We persevered, nonetheless, following our usual route down LDR-A arroyo, east on the east/west cross trail, up the left branch, down the middle branch and then up and out of the right branch.

We all seemed pretty eager to have the hike over with, and we reveled in the air-conditioned comfort of the CR-V during the short ride home.

Black-throated Sparrow

This & next:  Prickly Pear fruit

Distant view of Tortugas and the Organs

This & next:  same Barrel Cactus

Heelers with Dr. K

Frio and Willow

This & next 2:  same Barrel Cactus

This & next 3:  three different Barrel Cacti

Headed up the right branch

Ocotillo in the right branch

Ocotillos on the hill west of Right Branch Arroyo

The rest:  Swainson's Hawk