Looking for Flowers in The Kofa

Heading For the Kofa.

We went to Jo Ann and Dave's to meet them for our ride to the Kofa Wild Life Refuge. When we got there they were ready to go so we headed out.
We drove south on 95 and it looked like it was going to be a good flower day by the Brittle Bushes blooming along the highway.

Into the Kofa.

We turned east off the highway near milepost 92 on the TMS&T Road.
Lots of greasewood blooming.

About 2 miles down the road we turned south at intersection 24 and followed that trail toward the hills.

A Few Cactus Blossoms.

There weren't very many cactus's blooming yet but there were lots of bud's on them just about to open up.

Here is one example; a Hedgehog just about ready to open.

We scan the desert looking for cactus's blooming.



A little ways along that road we found the first cactus in bloom ; a Beaver Tail.

We only found two beaver tails on this trip.

There were a lot of Ocotillo's in bloom.

Here is a close up of the Ocotillo flower.

 Next we came across a couple Staghorn Cholla flowers starting to open up.

Here is another one.

We found a couple of Hedgehog cactus who's flowers were just starting to open. These are one of my favorite cactus flowers.

Here is one more.

Every now and then we look up and are delighted by the views.

Natures landscaping.

Some places look like the plantings were planned. The yellow flowers are Brittle Bush.

Here are Brittle Bush scattered across the hillside.

I don't know what these orange flowers are but they are very common in the desert. It is hard to find them in large enough group's to get a good picture of them.

Here are some blue flowers.

A few Poppies.

A Square Arch.

We noticed this arch, high on a ridge.

Ironwood Trees.

The Ironwood Trees are starting to get their leaves.

This one was sticking out into the trail.

De La Osa Well.

We followed the trail to its end at De La Osa well.

This well is to provide water to the wildlife in the desert. The pipe fence around the well is to keep out wild burro's.

Wildlife.

Speaking of wild life, we didn't see much but Patti got this picture of one of her favorite models, a small dragon. This guy looks like it might be a small Desert Iguana.

Lunch in the Shade.

After taking a break at the well, we headed back down the trail to the narrow canyon.

Here we found a shady spot to have lunch.

After lunch we headed back down the trail. We took a different way back to TMS&T Road but didn't see any more cactus's blooming. I guess we were a little early. Hopefully the next trip we will see more flowers.

It was a fun ride again.