I was needing to get out of the office for a bit so I jumped in the Jeep and went to check out a drainage culvert off of Mesa Hills. I had seen it in my previous excursion to the area when I almost get trapped on the other side of the Sunland Park Dam.

After parking in the Westside Recreation center, I headed down a path that paralleled the arroyo till I could find a spot down.

Run for your Lives!

Now I have lived in El Paso all my life and I think this is the first time I’ve seen a sign warning about snakes.  Come on! We are smack in the middle of a desert next to a mountain, snakes should be expected.

The Wetlands

The arroyo empties into a large wetland area, that despite the recent Hotter-Than-Hades heat wave, was quite green. I moved on to the concrete spillway hoping to find some interesting graffiti.

Concrete steps

Not so much, just a bunch of lazy tagging.  From here I walked back up to another feeder where I found the youth of El Paso’s favorite passtime: shopping cart stealing and dumping!

No more shopping for you!

“Who” ever did this was long gone but left their mark.  There had to be a skunk near by because this place smelled pretty foul.  Time to head out before I get sprayed. The full set of photos can be found here: Mesa Hills Wash