More Cross-Desert Exploration

Movin' on down the road

A good morning of exploration today.  Becca and I saw a lot of neat stuff:  a Black-tailed Jackrabbit, a heavy metal cross (which we'd come across before), an engine manifold in a desolate area, a raven pestering a Red-tailed Hawk, our buddy, Jimmy, hiking up the west side of Tortugas, and an igneous rock that looks (on first appearance) to have captured an animal track.  I may have a geology expert take a look at the rock, but I suspect the track may be just an accident of natural formation. Does it look like an animal footprint to you?

Rugged terrain west of Tortugas Mountain

Always in the bushwhacking mood

Yuccas and Ocotillos

What's Becca staring at?

This

Black-tailed Jackrabbit (a true hare)

X marks the spot

A cross of heavy metal bars welded together

Out in the middle of nowhere we found . . .

a Dodge Chrysler Mopar 383 2BBL intake manifold (I googled the serial #)

A real impediment to bushwhacking:  Catclaw Acacia

Mesquite leafing out on an arroyo bank

When the flower is ready the hummingbird will come

A Raven harasses a Red-tailed Hawk

Fossilized animal track in Welded Tuff?

Our friend Jimmy halfway up the mountain's west face

What is it About Arroyos?

Heading south along the western base of Tortugas Mountain

Becca and I started off determined to stick to well-traveled trails this morning, but we got distracted by the allure of the desert arroyos.  So we did some exploring of a few "washes," bushwhacking across various hills and dales to get to them.  As usual we were rewarded with interesting sights and sounds--and smells, too, now that some Creosote Bushes are beginning to bloom.  We ran into absolutely nobody in the outback, and we were as pleased as punch about it.  ("As pleased as punch":  going to have to look up the etymology of that idiom.)

After a long trek down from the foothills . . .

. . . it's time for a break in the shade

The delicate leaves of a Soaptree Yucca

A large arroyo we have yet to explore

Bushwhacking from one arroyo to another over desert hills

A small arroyo leads down to a larger one

The hole represents a missing head from a Soaptree Yucca

A wide arroyo west of Tortugas Mountain

I measured 32 "size-11-inch" shoes toe-to-heel at the widest point

A moderate-size Barrel Cactus

Scott's Oriole butt and beak

A Black-chinned Hummingbird

Scott's Oriole on Yucca leaf

Eating some of the delicious flowers

Scott's Oriole rear view

A 7' Little-leaf Sumac blooming on Tortugas's west side

10%/90%

On a well-traveled trail

The 90% represents the amount of time Becca and I spent bushwhacking across the desert floor this morning.  Again, we didn't start off with that intention; the trek just evolved that way.  We got to following some deer tracks off the beaten path, and one adventure followed another until we finally got back on the trail to where we'd left the Jeep.  Now that it's getting hotter outside I must admit to have thoughts about rattlesnake encounters.  Whenever we bushwhack I always command Becca to follow behind me.  She always obeys nicely.

Pinacate Beetle (genus Eleodes = "olivelike" in Greek)

Bushwhacking across the rolling Chihuahuan Desert

Claret Cup Cactus

Flowers of the Claret Cup

Some serious bushwhacking through here

Three amigos all in one Trecul Yucca

Concentration

A Soaptree Yucca grows in a sandy area

The two Barrel Cacti in the foreground are probably clones

We'll end up at the base of Tortugas Mountain (left)

One tall Torrey Yucca.  They can grow to twenty feet

The Birds & the Bees, Etcetera

Spanish Daggers on Tortugas's west side

Nothing like an early-morning hike to appreciate spring in the northern Chihuahuan Desert.  The spring winds hadn't picked up yet, so Becca and I enjoyed our trek without having to breathe dusty air.  On our way back to the Sunset Area parking lot we ran into our good buddy, Jimmy.  While Becca stood trying to catch flies, Jimmy and I talked about the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, which was just released.  The report was so dire that both Jimmy and I were depressed by its findings.  Becca, fortunately, isn't troubled by such things.

Scott's Oriole

Don't sit here

A honeybee about to sample a Velvety Nerisyrenia flower

Rolling in pollen

In-coming

Curve-billed Thrasher

The sands of Mars

Far west of Tortugas Mountain

Claret Cup Hedgehog Cactus flowers

Claret Cup Cactus blossoms at the base of Tortugas Mountain

Flowering all over

Southeast flank of Tortugas Mountain (left) and the Organ Mountains