South from Carlsbad, NM across the Delaware Basin...
...into Texas and around the Guadalupe Mountains...
...west across another basin and salt flats...
...up and over the Davis Mountains at El Paso, TX...
...into the Rio Grande Valley and heading back north...
...back into The Land of Enchantment (whew!) at Las Cruces, NM and the Organ Mountains...
...up and over the Organ Mountains and heading E-NM across the Tularosa Basin...
...with more salt flats...
...some of which are managed for migratory birds such as this Avocet...
...into the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains where...
...it's hard to make a living...
...up and into mixed conifer forest in the Sacramentos...
...where Ponderosa Pine...
...mix with and grade into forest of fir and aspen...
...where alpine grass meadows provide refuge for...
...flowers...
...butterflies...
...and caterpillars...
...cloud-capped forest was intense as we crossed the mountain pass...
...and headed back into yet another weather system on the high plains east of the Sacramentos...
What a topographical and floristic roller coaster ride!!!
gorgeous photos. oh, how i miss the west.
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