A Hike Before Changeover

In the high desert

After a moderate hike this morning I had to get up on the roof to shut down the evaporative cooler and drain its reservoir.  This is part of the ritual switchover from cooling to heat.  I did so because we have a strong cold front coming through on Wednesday.  While I was on the roof I snapped a few pics of the surrounding neighborhood, including an image of a small observatory that a resident a block away has in his yard.  When I came down I readied the furnace and fired it up for the winter season.

I believe the haze is caused by high humidity

Draining the reservoir on our evaporative cooler

Looking down from the roof at the arroyo next to our yard

Water runs off the roof through one of the canales ("canals")

Looking across the neighborhood to Tortugas and the Organ Mountains

One resident's small observatory (notice the observatory in upper left)

An Extra-Long Trek

Tortugas Mountain from the foothills of the Organ Mountains

Dr. K, Becca and I set off on the Sierra Vista Trail this morning at 7:45 a.m.  It's a 29-mile National Recreational Trail that starts in the high foothills of the Organ Mountains and crosses into Texas where it links up with the trail system in Franklin Mountains State Park.  It's often used by long-distance mountain bikers, though we saw only one during our hike.  Additionally we crossed paths with one male jogger and two female hikers.  Both Dr. K and I sampled Barrel Cactus fruit for the first time.  Our consensus:  tangy and tart.

Heading south on the Sierra Vista Trail

The magnificent Organ Mountains, Sotol in the foreground

The rugged canyons

One happy hiker

Equestrians are allowed on this trail

If you're going there you'd better be prepared

Another view of Tortugas (Tortoise) Mountain

 Paper Flowers still blooming

Desert Zinnia still in bloom

Looking back after hiking several miles

Becca and cairn (trail marker)

Packrat beside a large Little-Leaf Sumac

What's Becca staring at?

She's staring at Torrey Yuccas, which look like people on the horizon

A rock trail marker on the Sierra Vista

A type of Plagiobothrys (Popcorn Flower)?

Turpentine Bush

What a place to live, huh?

Barrel Cactus with a crop of fruit

Because of Scott I had to sample Barrel Cactus fruit

Brrrr....then "Nice"

Oddly-shaped Hedgehog Cactus

It was darned cold when we started off this morning:  37 Fahrenheit with a strong wind.  Our main concern was to get to the sun as quickly as possible, which we managed after hiking for about a mile in the shadow of the mountain.  We'll remedy this problem tomorrow by starting on the east side of the mountain.  Once we reached the sunlight, however, it felt quite pleasant in the Chihuahuan Desert.  Lots of other people were out and about, and we had several close encounters of the 3rd kind with mountain bikers and joggers.  Becca was a perfect lady during these chance meetings.

Road back to Tortugas

Two hikers on Geothermal Road

Spotting a jackrabbit off the Crosscut Trail

The road to the mountaintop

A pause to look back

This flock was too far away to ID

Becca and the Doña Ana Mountains (pronounced 'Dough-nya Anna')

Fruit of a Barrel Cactus resembles small pineapples

Otro Arroyo (Another Arroyo)

Sunlight on the grasses along Tortugas Mountain's western slope

I guess our felicitous experience in an arroyo yesterday led Becca and I into another this morning.  The one we hiked (partially) comes directly out of the west side of Tortugas Mountain and is one of the major drainages on this section of the mountain.  The flora is pretty dense in sections of the arroyo, which forced us out of it several times in order to maneuver around the obstacles.  We saw many critter tracks in the arroyo bottom, including those of deer and foxes.  Becca loves to explore arroyos because of the cornucopia of scents.  (Something of a mixed metaphor, no?)

Headed toward a major arroyo (middle)

Looking back toward the mountain after entering the "wash"

A healthy Barrel Cactus in the arroyo bottom

Soaptree Yuccas growing in the arroyo bottom

The sandy floor of the arroyo

Looking toward the Organ Mountains from the arroyo

A fun place to scout out critters

You wouldn't want to be in here during heavy rains

The arroyo begins to widen out

Emerging from the arroyo

Back on the outer loop road

Chihuahuan Desert postcard