The Monsoon Rains

In the late summer the monsoons arrive, bringing heavy, though spotty, rain showers.

The desert greens up and wildflowers bloom, like the spreading fleabane (Erigeron divergens), a medicinal herb with many uses.

Gardens and fields also welcome the nutrient-rich rains.

Depending on the amount of rainfall, one species might be abundant one year, and another, the next--like these Blackfoot daisies.

Cacti store water and ocotillos make leaves.  These Texas rainbow cacti, prickly pear, and ocotillos live in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains, on a slope that carries heavy runoff during the monsoon rains.

Colorful mesquite pods.  Edible honey mesquite pods should be harvested before the monsoons.  They can contain high amounts of toxic aflatoxin B1 produced by a common fungus (Aspergillus flavus) if left wet on the ground for too long.

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

A few years ago, President Obama created the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument to protect the historic, scenic, archaeological, paleontological, and geological treasures of the Organ Mountains, Potrillo Mountains, Doña Ana Mountains, Robledo Mountains, and Sierra de las Uvas.  The Potrillo Mountains unit contains volcanic cinder cones, lava flows, and craters.  The creation of the monument was the result of many years of effort by a broad-based coalition of people and is certainly one of the finest achievements of the Obama Administration.  Overall, the four sections that make up the monument encompass a total of 496,330 acres.  Adjoining it is Prehistoric Trackways National Monument, which contains footprints of numerous amphibians, reptiles, and insects, as wells as plants and petrified wood dating back 280 million years to the early Permian period.

My wife, Libby, and I recently visited Aguirre Springs Recreational Area, which is located in the Organ Mountains unit of the monument. 

Eastern face of the Organ Mountains

Tularosa Basin from the Organ Mountains

Sugarloaf Peak

Pine Tree Trail

Rabbit Ears