Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Sleeping Lady Hills, Spring walkabout- Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument






An afternoon in the wind and sun. Gravel and sand greened up with wild mustard and invasive dock. Heading toward white hills, I surmise there must be fault separating them from the dark basalt/andesite peaks and cliffs that make up much of the higher parts of the range.  Bright yellow lichen grows on the contrasting red rocks that outcrop in strange forms on both sides.

Trudging about on the clinking cobble of tuff.
 A well engineered cow trail curves through the greening bunch grass that grows on the northeast slope. We follow it.

A black cow lies several days dead in a shallow ravine. Creosote bush grows as far as the eye can see. We look for bits of pots, or flakes of quartz at our feet, but find none. On the very few suitable boulders we see, we hope, in vain, to find petroglyphs.





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