Pictures, please!

Before we get on with the show, it was suggested to me that I would not believe the monsoon season in the high desert until I had actually experienced it. This weekend, the monsoons arrived. First, a light rain Saturday morning, then a deluge, then steady showers until mid-evening when it got very quiet. We also had a power failure in the middle of it all, but that is a common occurrence here, storm or no storm. Today, much the same thing late this afternoon, thankfully after I had returned from hiking. One side note: I was sick Friday night and Saturday morning, so the rain was a good excuse to sleep in. Until 4:30!

It was suggested tonight by a loyal reader (aka Scooter) that it would be a nice change to my usual postings to skew more toward the graphic image and less toward the journalistic ramblings. Luckily, the last two weekends I've intentionally left the Nikons behind for the little Olympus digital I bought years ago to try and stay at least within a decade of current technology. And so, with a nod to Scott Graves, let's turn out the lights and grab some popcorn. I also left the pictures full-size, so you should be able to click on each for a better view.


The weather was gorgeous Saturday afternoon, the day after the 4th, so I decided it was time to tackle the Tiyo Point Trail. Round trip it would be about 12.5 miles from the trailhead four miles down the Point Sublime Road, but a view I had been told was worth the effort. This is facing to the southeast from Tiyo Point. Along the way I also met the fire manager from Big Bend National Park. We exchanged names and I told him I might see him in November.






The point is very narrow, so a few yards across is a terrific view to the southwest. It was late in the afternoon, so the sun provided great lighting to show the layering of the various formations in that part of the canyon.



As I hiked back to the Jeep, I listened to NPR and Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion." It made the 6.2 miles go a little quicker, so when the light rain began to fall I was only a short distance from the trailhead. Along the way, the wildflowers were in bloom and I thought this image was one to share.

The week was rather routine. The usual accounting audits each morning, vending machine maintenance on Wednesday and invoice coding at any free moment. My roommate, Allan, is also proving to be a great late night conversationalist and music resource. His Apple has thousands of classic songs from the 50s and 60s, Johnny Cash hits, Springsteen...all the tunes I love to listen to. And he enjoys Pink Floyd, in particular, which brings back a rush of memories of so many friends and places and moments in my life. Naturally, he picks the songs and I tell the stories and before you know it, it is 2 or 3 a.m. I think THIS time I have a winner!

After being sick Saturday (food-poisoned in the EDR is more like it), today's hike was simply for relaxation and no better place to do that than Cape Final. It is a short hike, but let the pictures tell the story.

And, finally, although it is not Christmas card-worthy, I could not resist having a little fun at Tiyo Point and it proves I actually made the trek.