Easy Jeep Trail - Southern Tip of Organ Mountains

It's always nice to find a nice, tranquil trail -- just challenging enough that you could not make it without 4 wheel drive but one with absolutely no hair raising hills to climb, and get ba ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:17:01 -0700

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It's always nice to find a nice, tranquil trail -- just challenging enough that you could not make it without 4 wheel drive but one with absolutely no hair raising hills to climb, and get ba ...

If you want the GPS stuff write me at ronm@desert-photography.com, and I'll be glad to send you my Garmin track file. The mountains you see in the distance to the west are the Organ Mountain ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:11:57 -0700

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If you want the GPS stuff write me at ronm@desert-photography.com, and I'll be glad to send you my Garmin track file. The mountains you see in the distance to the west are the Organ Mountain ...

Since transplanting myself here in 2000, I have yet to tire of the wide open spaces and desert scenery. Getting into the desert is really what the idea of buying a jeep was all about.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:02 -0700

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Since transplanting myself here in 2000, I have yet to tire of the wide open spaces and desert scenery. Getting into the desert is really what the idea of buying a jeep was all about.

The trail pretty much follows the edge of a ridge that rises anywhere from about 30 feet to 60 feet from the desert floor. A few of the hills will tilt your vehicle forward 40 degrees or so ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:07 -0700

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The trail pretty much follows the edge of a ridge that rises anywhere from about 30 feet to 60 feet from the desert floor. A few of the hills will tilt your vehicle forward 40 degrees or so ...

It was a nice day to have the Sunrider top open.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:12 -0700

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It was a nice day to have the Sunrider top open.

You can get a better idea of the sunroof effect of the Sunrider top in this pic. With it open and the windows out, the open air feeling is so complete that I frankly don't envision ever tak ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:16 -0700

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You can get a better idea of the sunroof effect of the Sunrider top in this pic. With it open and the windows out, the open air feeling is so complete that I frankly don't envision ever tak ...

This jeep just loves to pose for pictures, doesn't it?

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:20 -0700

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This jeep just loves to pose for pictures, doesn't it?

This side road seemed an inviting place to pull over and have some lunch -- namely a Meal-Ready-To-Eat a friend had given me to try out.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:25 -0700

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This side road seemed an inviting place to pull over and have some lunch -- namely a Meal-Ready-To-Eat a friend had given me to try out.

This MRE was the chicken fajita dinner. After heating the rice and then the chicken, I was surprised to find the chicken was in a thick sauce. It reminded me of a chinese dish. Our army g ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:29 -0700

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This MRE was the chicken fajita dinner. After heating the rice and then the chicken, I was surprised to find the chicken was in a thick sauce. It reminded me of a chinese dish. Our army g ...

I took a moment to walk further down the side road to see where it was headed, which was back to the right after the curve to the left you see here. After that, it got a lot narrower and pr ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:36 -0700

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I took a moment to walk further down the side road to see where it was headed, which was back to the right after the curve to the left you see here. After that, it got a lot narrower and pr ...

The beautiful thing about having a camera is that you can have someone knowledgable identify the many plants of interest later. I'd been seeing these demon plans with their long spines all ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:12:47 -0700

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The beautiful thing about having a camera is that you can have someone knowledgable identify the many plants of interest later. I'd been seeing these demon plans with their long spines all ...

Still, this plant and the Mesquite tree are your enemies if you like the shiny paint job on your off road vehicle. They are on both sides of every trail, and, if you pick a narrow trail, th ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:13:01 -0700

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Still, this plant and the Mesquite tree are your enemies if you like the shiny paint job on your off road vehicle. They are on both sides of every trail, and, if you pick a narrow trail, th ...

The only blight on the day was the wind, which by now had pulled the loose canvas of the Sunrider right out of the cab and whipped it up over the head rail. Still, as you can see, it was a ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:13:20 -0700

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The only blight on the day was the wind, which by now had pulled the loose canvas of the Sunrider right out of the cab and whipped it up over the head rail. Still, as you can see, it was a ...

These plants, which you barely notice unless you are avoiding one beside your vehicle, were the only splash of bright color in the desert today.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:13:37 -0700

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These plants, which you barely notice unless you are avoiding one beside your vehicle, were the only splash of bright color in the desert today.

If I managed to get a decent picture today, this would be it. The little baby Yucca in the middle made a good impression on me.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:13:55 -0700

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If I managed to get a decent picture today, this would be it. The little baby Yucca in the middle made a good impression on me.

Here's a little todler Yucca beside the thorny plant whose name I do not yet know. Together they make a nice foreground for the Organs in the distance.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:14:13 -0700

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Here's a little todler Yucca beside the thorny plant whose name I do not yet know. Together they make a nice foreground for the Organs in the distance.

The trail back now. There are a lot of hills similar to this one. You can take them nice and easy, this one in second gear.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:14:28 -0700

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The trail back now. There are a lot of hills similar to this one. You can take them nice and easy, this one in second gear.

Why these Yucca plants always capture my attention, I have no idea, but I'm always on the lookout for Yucca families.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:14:46 -0700

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Why these Yucca plants always capture my attention, I have no idea, but I'm always on the lookout for Yucca families.

The one thing I should mention is that some of the hills are quite sandy. This one had great traction, but some of them have a nice 3-5" of sand on them --- not enough to get you stuck, but ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:15:00 -0700

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The one thing I should mention is that some of the hills are quite sandy. This one had great traction, but some of them have a nice 3-5" of sand on them --- not enough to get you stuck, but ...

Here's the strange thing about the Yucca plants. I have not done any research to back this up or disprove it, but it seems to me that they tend to tilt their flower stalks to the West.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:15:13 -0700

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Here's the strange thing about the Yucca plants. I have not done any research to back this up or disprove it, but it seems to me that they tend to tilt their flower stalks to the West.

A couple more trail scenes.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:15:25 -0700

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A couple more trail scenes.

We are now getting close to the sand pits again, and it made me wish I had gone further north along the range so the journey would not be ending so soon.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:15:38 -0700

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We are now getting close to the sand pits again, and it made me wish I had gone further north along the range so the journey would not be ending so soon.

Caution: there are perhaps a dozen of these roads leading down from the ridge and on to the desert floor. Do not take one of them in anything except an ATV unless you want to wind up in a s ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:16:00 -0700

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Caution: there are perhaps a dozen of these roads leading down from the ridge and on to the desert floor. Do not take one of them in anything except an ATV unless you want to wind up in a s ...

There it goes again, hogging the limelight.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:16:16 -0700

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There it goes again, hogging the limelight.

The KC auxiliary lights are new and something I could highly recommend to anyone who likes to offroad at night. Each one puts out 130 watts -- enough to blind any unfortunate jack rabbit wh ...

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:16:32 -0700

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The KC auxiliary lights are new and something I could highly recommend to anyone who likes to offroad at night. Each one puts out 130 watts -- enough to blind any unfortunate jack rabbit wh ...

One longing look backwards. It would be back to civilization very shortly.

nobody@smugmug.com (Desert Gallery) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:16:45 -0700

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One longing look backwards. It would be back to civilization very shortly.