It seems that there is ephemeral life when the potholes fill with water during the monsoon season…like now! They’d had an inch of rain here the week before our visit so we were optimistic that we’d see mosquito larvae, small snails, pollywogs of desert frogs and maybe even a Tadpole Shrimp.
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We started out but the first few potholes were dead. Maybe there’d be deeper ones further on. After checking several more without luck we were resigning ourselves to enjoying the view. Finally, at one larger pool movement was spotted. A closer look revealed that we’d hit the jackpot!
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We found every critter in this pothole that is mentioned in the trail guide. We had a blast watching them and trying to get a picture. Shrimp, living in a puddle in the middle of the desert. They mate and lay eggs that can withstand the 175° temperature at the bottom of the dry puddle this becomes in summer. All this in a lifespan of only a month or so. Crazy!