Couldn't Beat the Wind

Torrey Yucca flower stalk

We weren't able to beat the wind this morning, although it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now.  It's a hazy, dusty, sandy day right now.  It started to get really bad about an hour ago, and I think it's going to blow into the evening.  I usually take Becca into the arroyo beside the house in the early afternoon, but it's too bad outside to do that today.


Closeup of stalk close to blooming




Becca doesn't care about flowers



Floor of the desert

Across a great expanse of Chihuahuan Desert

Soaptree Yucca (left), Creosote Bush (right)

Old Soaptree Yuccas in a large arroyo



A top-only view of Tortugas Mountain



Tuesday Before Noon

Trekking along the road

It was really warm when Becca and I did our hike around Tortugas this morning.  We're 77 F. right now.  We got in a good long trek before the wind picked up this afternoon.  Gusts are supposed to reach 40 mph today.  Tomorrow's going to be even worse.


Prickly Pear Cactus




What's in there?



Wild Rhubarb



Wild Rhubarb stalk



Top of the Week

I'm guessing foxhole, but it looks like eyes with a bush nose

Very pleasant morning on the mountain.  Becca and I got in a moderately-long hike without running into anybody else.  The weather was perfect, an early spring-like day.  We're in for spring changes, though, that will makes us long for calmer climes.  Wednesday we're supposed to get sustained winds of 30-40 mph, with gusts to 60.  We'll be chewing Chihuahuan Desert sand, no doubt.

Becca examines the left eye

Looking for foxes



Torrey Yuccas



On the road to Tortugas

Another Yucca about to bloom

Yucca flower stalk

Sierra Vista South

Our entire hike as GPS track on Google Earth

Dr. K, Becca and I did a nice long hike on the Sierra Vista Trail South this morning.  We didn't run into one other hiker.  What started off as a slightly cool outing soon became quite pleasant.  The wind that battered us in the low country was remarkably absent in the high foothills.  No complaints from us--especially none from Dr. K, who despises the cold.  Cold, hot--it makes no nevermind to Becca the wonderdog.

The rugged Organ Mountains from the Sierra Vista Trail South



Looking south along the Organs, southern chain of Rocky Mountains



Deep arroyo on the Organ Mountains' west side

Happy canine on the trail

Looking back the way we came



Really old "Limited Use Area" sign



Mexican Poppies blooming in the Organ Mountain foothills

Mexian Poppy



Colorful poppies



The rare Organ Mountains Evening Primrose

Dog as rascal

Saturday in the Desert

What's the holdup?

Becca and I did a nice long hike this morning, but it was cold due to a stiff wind.  Also, there were a lot of people out and about on the mountain environs--mostly people hiking with their dogs, but one guy on a dirt bike, whose motor was disturbing to Becca.  Even though the guy was a respectful rider--not revving his internal-combustion engine or speeding along the dirt roads--I found myself irritated with him.  More and more I have little tolerance for people who feel compelled to motor through the desert for pleasure.

An oft-photographed dirt road

Different planes of the desert

Friday, Forsooth

Torrey Yucca putting up its flower stalk

Becca and I were able to get in a moderately-long hike before the wind really got started.  But now it's horrible.  Dr. K and I had to drive down to El Paso in the late morning, and the trip was hellacious--even worse on the way back.  It seemed as if half the sand in the Chihuahuan Desert was in the air, and the gusts of wind made keeping the Jeep Commander on the road quite the task.


Dog with a "pregunta"



Soaptree Yucca and dog at work



Rocky outcropping, city of Las Cruces in background



Thursday Outing

Rough trail

We got a nice long hike in before the winds picked up today, and, man, are they gusting now!  We also ran into Jimmy and talked to him for about twenty minutes.  Well, I talked to him; Becca was chasing flies.  Becca HATES flies.  Jimmy had just returned from Ojo Caliente in northern New Mexico, where he did a lot of hiking.  I've never been there; it sounded very nice.  I also want to go to Chaco Canyon, another place I haven't been.


Noble dog



Over hill and dale on a dusty trail

Blue sky and desert (and dog)

Tortugas Mountain and the Organ Mountains

Never like to see spent shell casings

Faint single-track trail

Very bad air in the Mesilla Valley