August in the Sacramento Mountains

Upper Rio Penasco Road is always a treat to drive, always full of surprises with birds and butters and wild flowers. The abundance of rainfall this year has increased the number of springs and puddles along the way. Again I located a Vivid Dancer puddling along with numerous little blue b'flies

I first called this one a Question Mark, but my camera showed it to be a Hoary Comma instead. 

Much of the area has been overrun by the invasive species of thistle

and the insects truly love it. I don't know what these little green bees are but the colors are magnificent. 

Bluff Spring as usual was overrun with visitors, but these two Red Admirals

one worn and tattered

and one freshly hatched made the stop worthwhile. 

These two larger bees were enjoying another type of thistle, this one native

One never knows what will turn up next. As I started out for an early morning walk around the park, I was stopped in my tracks by a rare morning rainbow. 

It continued to increase

until it became a complete double arch

my puny photos just don't do it justice, but the memory is locked inside my heart.

Sunspot has always been a favorite location. The astronomer that lives inside thrills at the scale model solar system that stretches from the observatory to  Cloudcroft. 

This is the sun model

What a cool place!

This small solar telescope actually spent some time in Antarctica

The largest scope on the property actually has twice as much underground as it does above. 

This was the first scope constructed back in 1950. 

The view of the Tularosa Basin is magnificent even on a hazy day, which are more and more common. 

 the sidewalk was hot, hot, hot...

or this young bluebird jumped to catch his bug 

Apache Point is another observatory about a mile away is operated mostly by New Mexico State University and has conducted the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

I chased this Milbert's Tortoiseshell until he finally relented and let me get a few good shots.  

Another excellent Hoary Comma, slightly different color variation

A late evening drive of Curtis Canyon produced a gorgeous cloud formation

and a herd of 35 elk

I know this is fuzzy, but 

IT'S A POORWILL!

Must have been 6 or 7 on the road. We also saw bats flying, no photos of those, of course,

 and  LBJ's,  little brown jobs, along the sides of the road. 

We finished off the evening with a spectacular crescent moon

On the bucket list before our time in NM was done was Steep Hill Road from Hwy 82 to Fresnal Canyon Road. 

What a view! The dry side of the mountain has a special beauty.

Another bucket list item was the trestle trail from the depot replica in Cloudcroft. 

The Devil's Elbow was a section that was dynamited through solid rock

The light was all wrong, but this was my only chance

The "S" trestle was the only one of its kind, two 30° curves on a single trestle 

338 feet long and 60 feet high

A bench on the abutment provides a welcome place to catch your breath. 

Walking along the old rail bed has a magical feeling. I could almost hear the steam engine chugging along through the pines. 

And so ended another stay in the cool mountains of southern New Mexico. Back to Texas on Monday.