Are we done relaxing yet?

    Another week-end camping in the trailer. The camping part is accomplished by burning those awkward pieces of gnarled juniper and cedar that cannot be split small enough to fit into the wood-stove at home. The black archipelago of the cloudless starry sky before the waning moon rose is a wonder to behold. The Milky Way is particularly clear at these latitudes, about 33°N. The trailer provides the messy comfort of a home in miniature.

    We kept ourselves busy walking, reading, playing music, watching the first series of Robin Hood , star gazing and otherwise being idle . . . the fire did get going and wasn't this smoky really.

    And Kathy rescued another dog, Kiki, of indeterminate breed.

    I rushed off to take a few snapshots of Escudilla before sunset yesterday, Wednesday. And then drove thirty-odd miles west up to Point of the Mountain trail head and walked to Apache Vista to take some more shots before dark.

    Round Valley just after the sun set. This overlook is just over a mile from the trail head and I hoped I wasn't going to meet a bear on the way. The only wildlife I've encountered here before are elk and wild turkeys. I have had the luck to glimpse the occasional Mexican grey wolf, a controversial re-introduction.

    The last snapshot is a view from the ridge about halfway on  the way back to the truck. By this time I was clapping my hands and really watching all around me.