Hardy Hikers do Blacketts Ridge

An energetic group of Hardy Hikers strained quads and challenged acrophobia on a hike to the top of Blackets Ridge Tuesday. Annual wildflowers are beginning to bloom and the warm blooded critters are coming out to enjoy the sun.

bob rogers

Romero Pools Hike

 

We hiked to Romero Pools from Catalina State Park, just north of Tucson, with my sister Anna Bowlds. We were surprised at the dozen annual wildflowers blooming. It seems early for such a display, and that bodes well for the bloom later on.

Snow?

 

White Sands National Monument sure can look like snow. It even crunches under tires like very cold snow. Spooky.

  Cold too, in the early morning after a cold night.

Lots more life than expected. The gypsum holds water and the plants are able to get water even when it hasn't rained in months. All they have to worry about are rockets falling from the sky from the White Sands Missile Range.

Self Portrait at Three Rivers Petroglyph Site in New Mexico

We camped here two nights. We were up before dawn and out until dark making photographs and listening to coyotes and ravens sing the sun up and down. The second night we had so many coyote choir concerts that we finally gave up listening and slept anyway. This BLM site is one of the best we have visited, so far. We are coming to the realization that we will have to work awfully hard to take in all the great BLM sites in the West. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!