Thursday March 8 - Desert Day Walk

Today I went on a moderate walk along the Yellow and then the Orange Trails. It was really enjoyable and I took the camera and photographed examples of the common vegetation in the area.

* On the left you have a type of 'Bear grass' that grows near streams.

*On the right you see a Banana Yucca - so named because of the fruit that develops on a stalk which grows up the middle. The little scrolls emerge from the sides of the leaves. These are common all over the place.

The grass below has a tongue twister name: Rubber Rabbitbrush! Try saying that quickly three times! On the right you can see the leaves of the Desert Holly which is very common in the area, although less common than Juniper and Pinyon.

I sometimes get a bit of a fright walking past the dry Holly leaves because when a little breeze springs up they sound like a snake moving nearby!

The photo of the rubber rabbitbrush was actaully taken last week down on the flat near Sangre when there was still plenty of snow about.

Below this again, you can see two types of Cactii found here: There is a ground-hugging type and what is known as a 'Chainfruit Cholla' because of its long chains of fruit, sometimes growing twenty fruit out of each other. I haven't tested them but no doubt they are prickly!

The last two vegetation pictures are of the main trees in the area (although I photographed only a little shrub of one!)

On the left is a small Pinyon and on the right is a Juniper which is actually beginning to flower and will no doubt release a lot of pollen which will boost hay-fever levels in the area as it is released!

As I walked along the track today, parts were muddy from melted snow and there were some interesting footprints - not all of which I was sure of. One, I am sure was of a bear, but I didn't start photographing footprints till some time after seeing it and there were not more. Some of them were possibly deer, with cloven hoofs, others were of more padded footed creatures (Mountain lion????) perhaps jackrabbits? I'll unclude a couple of photos and you can guess for yourselves.
Tomorrow we have a day in Albuquerque, so expect another barrage of photographs. Life is not dull, is it? I really enjoyed my walk today. As I left (and another Australian was also leaving on a different route) Br Joe rushed after us to warn us it was going to storm and possibly snow!! I went back and got my umbrella, but apart from climbing the first slope with an umbrella in my right hand (probably worth a photo) there was no problem with the weather and it ended up quite fine. However, I did appreciate his concern for us.