Top photo is coming down the northside of Ridgeback heading west. Such cool light in the background with the yellow from the sun's hue that you can somewhat see in the sky being caressed by the altocumulus clouds.

Bottom left appears to be some sort of gall. to see it better you can click on original below. Ball-shaped leafy galls, about the size of walnuts, are common on stems. These galls are caused by a small gnat-like insect known as the creosote gall midge, Asphondylia auripila. The larvae of the midge live in these. The younger galls often appear green and older galls are brown.
http://mojavedesert.net/plants/shrubs/creosote.html

Bottom right is looking east toward Apache Vista.