Here are 50 of my favorite scenes from the desert section of our Pacific Crest Trail adventure (from the Mexico border to Walker Pass, roughly 650 miles). Some words that stick out from this section are:

Flowering Cacti. Grape soda lupine.  Evergreen trees. Manazanita. Lizards – so darn cute. Wind: either welcome relief or tent-destroying menace. Heat. Water, water, water.