Crowded Mountain

At start

It wasn't too crowded when Becca and I started off west of Tortugas Mountain this morning, but it got increasingly so as time passed.  I'm not sure if these outdoor enthusiasts were visiting students from South Alabama (NMSU has a big football game today), but many of them were young people.  Some were yelling back and forth to each other as young people sometimes do.  It wasn't a great distraction, though, and the Beckster and I had a good time exploring the region we call "the outback."  On the way in we had to stay off to the side of Geothermal Road because trucks ladened with wooden pallets were heading to the top of the mountain, perhaps for a later celebratory bonfire.

What does Becca see across the valley?

She sees a mountain biker enjoying a morning ride

Time to get going again

I'm guessing Hairy-seed Bahia (Bahia absinthifolia)

Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus

Forging ahead

Huge, old Torrey Yucca (at least 15 feet tall)

View to the mountains

Hikers at the gate

Becca hears people's voices

Heading up the road to the top

At least one is coming down

Long view to the Organ Mountains

Cactus Wren

Happy not to use its scientific name:  Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)

In an arroyo

Looking the other way in the arroyo

Nice day despite the overcast

Always keeping a watchful eye

Desert sun through overcast

Closeup of a Banana Yucca

View through a colorful Ocotillo

Large Soaptree Yucca

Exposed roots of an Ocotillo

Closer look at the root system

The way we came

Becca is an ardent desert hiker

A couple of the lights at Aggie Memorial Stadium

Beyond the homes lies Picacho "Peak"

Hello Birdies

Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)

It was overcast and quite chilly when Becca and I hit the trail west of Tortugas Mountain this morning; and even though the sun tried to make several appearances the temperature stayed in the low 50s for our entire trek.  The area wasn't very populated with outdoor enthusiasts, perhaps because of the weather.  We saw no one in the outback, but on our inbound leg we waved a greeting to a runner on the upper foothills trail, and a guy wearing a bright orange shirt hiked several hundred yards in front of us heading back to the parking area.  When we got home I showered and drove over to Eyemart Express to have my new prescription filled; I picked the new glasses up this afternoon.  I'm certain I see into reality more clearly now.

Three sisters (actually, one Torrey Yucca)

The Beckster on the squiggly trail

What's that I see at the top right of the yucca?

Why it's a Loggerhead Shrike seeing us

Check out that beak

Going inside the yucca for a snack

Loggerhead Shrikes are notorious for impaling insects

This insect seems to be an impaled grasshopper

The "what-are-you-looking-at?" stare

Or is that chunked chicken it's eating?

Handsome bird

Another look at the high-altitude cactus garden

All spikes and no cactus

Looking toward the summit of Tortugas Mountain

Flowers still in bloom on December 1st

Chihuahuan sun through overcast sky

The reddish section is this past spring's newest growth of Ocotillo wand

Single barrel cactus fruit

Becca's casting-call photo

Typical Chihuahuan Desert scene