emcgreevy's Identifications

One of my favorite little points of interest in the Chisos is this site just off the lower Laguna Meadow Trail, overlooking Oak Canyon. As seen on geology maps, and easily visible in the satellite imagery of this hillside (e.g., zoom in on this pin), one can find a very sharp boundary between the 120 million year old Cretaceous limestone and the 35 million year old basalt which intruded up through those old seabed rocks. The boundary is so sharp you can actually straddle it with your two feet. The botany is recognizably distinct on each side of the boundary. This Lechuguilla is literally growing right on the line between the basalt (reddish rock on the left) and limestone (gray rock on the right). The 2nd image shows a scenery shot illustrating the boundary.
Scanned from 35mm Ektachrome slide.

This particular sighting has a place in our family lore. We spotted this Black Bear on the skree field on the west side of Green Gulch as we descended the canyon on the road. Several cars stopped to enjoy the sight. In our car, our 2-yr, 9-month old daughter looked up to see what everyone was pointing at and announced, "I see the bear!" It was the first complete sentence that she ever spoke.
Scanned from 35mm Ektachrome slide.