Color in the Desert

The high desert of New Mexico and especially in our neck of the woods is not noted for color. We don't have the swath of deciduous trees turning in to reds, browns, yellows, golds. On my hike this weekend I went on the Embudo Trail close to the house and when I came the view over the mountain valley I was his with this view of a couple of collections of intensely gold trees in a sea of brown and green. I'm not sure if these pictures will convey just how much the colors popped.




In addition, I also saw a new bird, the Hairy Woodpecker. And I made a tasty chicken stew with olives and orange rind that wife and I shared with an excellent Oregon Pinot Noir. A nice interlude before hitting the road trail again.