Years of Ambrose Desert Rats

To see a larger version of each image, click on the image.  Use the Back button to return to this photo directory.  My apology goes to the many Ambrose desert rats for whom I don't have photographs.  My thanks goes to all of my desert students who have helped me always to view the desert through fresh eyes. 

	Corey Blevins examines a purple prickly pear in the low shrub desert.
	Connie Tigges, Tammy Wuestenberg, Monica Forret (now a faculty member at SAU) and Marge Legg lunch on the South Rim of the Chisos Mountains.  Elephant Tusk rises from the desert floor.
	Our crew rests its puppies atop Lost Mine Peak.   Casa Grande, a nesting site for Peregrine Falcons provides the backdrop.
	Connie Tigges tries to find her way out of Oak Creek Wash past some Englemann's Prickly Pear.
	Joe Stratman records his thoughts in the cool environs of Mule Ear Spring.  Frogs in the desert?!  Say it ain't so!
	Connie Tigges accepts the challenge and takes a cliffside seat on the top of Mariscal Canyon.
	Monica Forret is about to discover the meaning of "slickrock" as she descends to the Burro Mesa Pour-Off.
	Pete Ryan uses a sketching break as his excuse for resting as he ascends the Laguna Meadow Trail in the Chisos Mountains.
	On the way back to our camp in the Chisos Mountains.
	Corey Blevins hoofs it through a creosote flat, one of the characteristic communities of the Chihuahuan desert.
	"Why is it all so sharp?" Joe wonders as he examines a small yucca.
	Kristin Quinn and Jim Cook take measurements on Opuntia in the Grapevine Hills area.
	Kristin Quinn and Carl Herzig at the Burro Mesa Pour-Off consider quick alternatives to early retirement from St. Ambrose.
	Jim Cook is adorned with a crown of blooming Spanish Daggers.
	Marge Legg takes sketching notes.
	Rich Legg and Joan Trapp enjoy the relief of a desert oasis at Mule Ear Spring.  Texas Buckeye (pink) and a Spanish Dagger bloom in the background.
	Jessi Legg (now 28!) is hauled through a crack as the crew attempts to complete a transit of the Devil's Den.
	A year of Desert Rats (l to r): Joe Stratman, Monica Forret, Connie Tigges, Pete Ryan, Tammy Wuestenberg, Doug Mueller, and Corey Blevins.
	A year of Desert Rats (back l to r): Tim Davids, Mike Shafer, Amy Hoeg and Rene Hansen; (front l to r): Ron Driscoll, James Vanderveer, Lecia Pewe and Kim Stream.
	A year of Desert Rats (l to r): Kurt Griebel, Mike Mondloch, Brian Blevins, Rich Hankemeier, Sylvia Nemmers and Tracey Holland.
	A year of Desert Rats (front l to r): Mark Miller and Steve Dyar; (back l to r) Karlen Farrell, Marty Ryan, Rich Legg, Amy Greene, Craig Haut, and Rob Philibert
	Sunset over Ward Mountain from the Chisos Basin.
	The head rat, (Dr.) Rich Legg, on the roam in Bryce Canyon.