In response to the current surge in Corona virus cases resulting from the Delta variant, we decided to escape into the woods, the Lincoln National Forest to be specific. We felt that we would be safer cavorting with the woodland creatures than staying in town. On this trip we explored the community of High Rolls. It is about half way up the mountain from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft. Passing through it on the highway we were never very impressed. This time we left the highway and discovered magnificent canyons, fruit orchards and an amazing organic farm. It rained nearly every afternoon so we had the perfect excuse for a nap, as if one is needed in retirement. Every time that we return to the national forest there is more to discover. Here are some photos of what we saw this time. 

Low chance of fire, high chance of friendship

Lincoln National Forest

Agaricomycetes Class of Fungi

Oyster Mushrooms

Brittlegill Mushrooms

Common Gilled Mushroom

Bracket Fungi

Moss, downed tree trunk and oak leaves

Common Gilled Mushrooms

Slippery Jack Mushroom

Rustgill Mushroom

Moss

Thistle

Wild Rose

Nodding Onion with their heads still held high

Mike in a meadow of late season wildflowers

An Afternoon Thunderstorm in the Lincoln National Forest

Drawn by Michael

A camper's work is never done.

Sleepy Orange Butterfly on a Pineywoods Geranium

Scarlet Skimmer Dragonflies

White-Lined Sphinx

Black Swallowtail Butterfly

Campfire on the edge of the deep woods

A visit to an organic farm in High Rolls, New Mexico

Water Lilies in fish pond

Shubunkin Goldfish

Dennis picking fresh corn

Thistle

American Aster

Meadow Goat's Beard (Tragopogon pratensis)

Barberries

Mike out behind the woodpile

Yearling Mule Deer

Canyon Towhee

Bull Elk

Steller's Jay

Checkered White Butterfly

Plateau Lizard warming in the morning sun

Turkey Vultures warming on utility poles

The Sacramento Mountains

An abandoned ranch-house in a canyon near High Rolls, NM - with White Sands in the distance

Mike on the Bridal Veil Falls Trail. 

There are several rails-to-trails routes in the area, and that is a decaying trestle on the right.

Tall grasses along the trail 

Afternoon sky over the Sacramentos