A small group and I started the day this morning by going right back to the bird tower to watch the sunrise. We were a bit late but caught the tail end of dawn. It was also a bit cloudy, but the clouds helped accentuate the rays that made it through. We rested and chilled there for around an hour, enjoying the cool breeze and the sun.

We then went out and collected our camera traps! Sadly, I didn’t get anything outside of our group and a couple cars.

While we collected camera traps, we ended up using our extra flagging tape as bows, ribbons, and bracelets!

To wrap up both our day and our stay at LCRS, Steve helped make a campfire where we did rose bud thorn and then just chatted. It felt a lot like all the backpacking trips I went on in high school, and was a feeling I didn’t realized I had missed.

I ended the day sitting out on the deck stargazing. The stars were still just as bright and just as pretty.

I came into Las Cuevas not knowing what to expect, but I’m sure gonna miss this place. Hopefully we’ll meet again!

Ian C