Exoskeleton:
The sky was partly cloudy, with occasional threats of rain, so the
lighting for photography was good.
Because of the slope of the rock exposure, I carefully chose my footing, which was at times precarious.
This was made vastly more difficult because the entire rock slope was astonishingly slick from algae
on the smooth granite. It was a huge, treacherous, frictionless surface! One false step and I would have slid tens of
meters down a sheer rock slope, and deposited as a crumpled, broken mass at the bottom of the granite exposure.
It took an hour to slowly make my way around the perimeter of the plant colony,
after which I had earned both a better appreciation for the site, and a suite of impressive cuts and scrapes from the coarse
granite and thorned vegetation. It was a relief to return to my starting point for a rest.
Imagine my amazed pleasure at discovering that Jim had made it to the site after all, by carefully proceeding at a pace
that was safe and comfortable! I was thrilled he had arrived!
Another view of this cluster of plants for you.
