Home Is Where You Park It!: Dunken to Pinon and Russell Gap Road to Guadalupe Rim Road

We decided this would be a good day to explore and possibly hunt for the Juniper Titmouse se we mentally flipped the coin and headed for Dunken and to Pinon along Hwy 24. Just after turning off Hwy 82 we crossed the Rio Penasco. I had been watching the water all the way down the canyon and remarked what a good volume was flowing.

Looking east from the bridge...

and looking back to the west...

Don't know where the river disappears between the bridge and Hope, but it never makes it all the way to the Pecos anymore except in a flash flood.

After leaving the river, we entered the desert for real. Despite the intense drought conditions, bits of color decorated the mostly brown, crispy landscape.

Cholla

More Cholla

Prickly Poppy

Luckily traffic was practically non-existent

so we could cruise slowly and stop for photos

when something caught my eye.

In addition to the big showy stuff, I noted Buffalo Burr, Thistle, Basket Flower, Apache Plume, and several DYC's. We picked up the first Meadowlark (Eastern/Western) of this summer along with Common Nighthawk and Horned Lark.

Along the way we discovered a forest road to Guadalupe Rim Road. Being pathfinders at heart, we opted to explore it. Road sign said 14 miles. Gravel, but pretty good with ranch buildings scattered here and there, was also very birdy. First was Cassin's Kingbird, followed by Western Kingbird. Canyon Towhee were plentiful, too.

BIRD OF THE DAY!

Pair of Hepatic Tanager struggling to stay perched in the wind, gusting to 30 mph,
but being very cooperative for my camera.

The female was a tad shyer, but just as photogenic.

According to the time stamps on the photos, we only observed them for 1 minute, sure seemed like a longer time.

We added Say's Phoebe, Lark Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Mockingbird, Ashthroated Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Red-tailed Hawk, and House Finch to the list.

Birds thinned out, but the ranch gate

and the combo windmill/pumpjack provided plenty to look at.

The road took a definite upward turn and Alvin bristled with the exciting prospect of some white-knuckle driving...

doesn't take a lot for us older folks...

The view from the top was spectacular!

The desert mountains have a special beauty all their own.

Century Plants punctuated the landscape...

with dramatic colors.

Gnarled Alligator Juniper with lots of personality. Would love to know just how old this old man of the mountain might be.

I felt I could see the edge of the world from here. Puts the word INFINITY in a whole new perspective.

Since we were NOT prepared to drive the entire Rim Road to Queen, we turned back from the edge of the Universe to retrace our tracks to Hwy 24. This handsome fellow had appeared on the road maybe fifteen feet behind us. I told some photos and tossed a pebble in his direction to move him off the roadway. He wouldn't budge.

Alvin edged the jeep around him to change his mind

and he slithered to the safety of the brushy edge.

Later input from MidNats held me ID Sonoran Gopher Snake.

What ever goes up, must come down, so that really steep hill was waiting.

I snapped away while Alvin negotiated the slope precisely.

Looked much steeper from the top...

Looking back, still looks mighty steep. Wish we had an altimeter. The other GPS unit does, but we left it back home.

I was intrigued by the remains of a power line, I imagined the sweat and toil that went into the original construction and what a shame that it was abandoned.

The cables littered the ground on both sides of the road

amid broken spires

But a few have managed to survive the ravages of time and weather intact.

We met a ranch truck on the way back to the highway...

She evidently hit this Western Diamondback just minutes earlier.

Turkey Vulture flew away when we approached, was he waiting for him to die? I did see a slight movement of the rattles, whether it was a last flicker of life or involuntary muscle reflex, I don't know.