Yippee! On Good Friday, the printing press blew up at the shop, so Johnnie and I packed the car and decided to explore the great state of Arizona.
Between the new pagan holidays of Oester, Tax day, 420 and Earthday, we were on a magical 12 day vacation of discovery and exploration.
I had always heard that the Sonoran desert bloom around Tuscon is not to be missed this time of year. I could not get over the scope of bio-diversity in the desert. The interconnected biosperes of plants, people and migrating birds was a revelation and a joy to me.
First we crossed the Apache reservation in a blizzard near Chama, New Mexico and headed out to the Navaho Nation near Shiprock.
Johnnie bent over in 4 states at once at the 4 corners monument.
A Navaho hogan in Monument Valley
Heading south across the Navajo and Hopi reservations we crossed back roads to Canyon de Chelly National Monument and checked out the Anasazi ruins.
We caught these mountain goats walking on vertical cliffs.
Going south to the painted desert and the Petrified Forest National Park.
The petroglyphs were amazing.
Sites throughout the park tell of human history for more than 10,000 years. A transitory tale of wandering tribes to numerous Pueblos with trading ties to surrounding settlements that fade around 1400 A.D.
The park is a Triassic period forest, 225 million years old, that eventually crystallized into quartz and the logs preserved as petrified wood.
The logs are strewn everywhere in all directions. A virtual petrified forest.
I told Johnnie that I wanted a picture of him sitting in a forest of crystals. Talk about your cosmic debris!
Heading south we went to Show Low, Alpine, Clifton and Safford following the indescribable Hi way 191 through the remote Gila pine forests, Apache reservations and Mormon settlements of the Gila river basin. It's big wide open Arizona country.
Abert's squirrel
We were very excited to go to Saguaro National Park outside of Tuscon. We spent 9 hours hiking and driving the park. I could've spent a week.
Echinocereus fasciculatus
Pinkflower Hedgehog Cactus
Gambel's Quail
Sphaeralcea emoryi
Emory's Globemallow
Saguaro Cactus Flower
Cactus Apple, Engelmann's Pricklypear
Acourtia wrightii
Brownfoot, Perezia
Scientific Name: Eriogonum polycladon
Common Name: Sorrel Buckwheat
Mountain Larkspur
Copper colored Staghorn Cholla
Staghorn Cholla
Sunset overlooking Tucson and Saguaro National Park
Agave gigantensis has a solitary rosette up to 4ft in diameter. The rigid, thick blue-green leaves are marked with bud imprints and have undulate margins with prominent curved teeth. The inflorescence is a 15 ft panicle of pale yellow flowers.
This species is limited to central Baja California, growing from 2000 to 5000 ft. It is a splendid ornamental for a Mediterranean climate and used in its native area for the production of Mescal. This one was growing wild in Organ Pipe Monument
Organ Pipe Cactus National monument
It's a jungle out there...really.
Saguaro and Organ Pipe Cactus.
San Xavier del Bac Mission near Tucson is acclaimed by many to be the finest example of mission architecture in the United States. It is a graceful blend of Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican Renaissance architecture, yet the blending is so complete it is hard to tell where one type begins and another ends.
Johnnie and I enjoy birding. We decided to go to Patagonia Lake on Sonoyta Creek and hike the 3.5 mile loop on the Audobon wildlife preserve. The Ocotillos were in full bloom with their slender scarlet blooms blowing in the 70 degree weather and the birds were everywhere on the last day before they closed for 6 months. Lucky us. Our first encounter was a great Blue Heron who I couldn't get a shot off...twice.
Costa's Hummingbird
Western Kingbird
Lesser Goldfinch
A rare chestnut sided warbler with nest and young
Neo-tropic Cormorants on Patagonia lake
Turkey Vulture
Swooping up from the canyon
A nesting Costa's hummingbird ( I have 15 shots of her) Costa's Hummingbird is a desert species restricted to the far southwest and retreating just south of the border in winter months. Adult males have an extravagant loop and dive display that tells other birds its species and fitness. Its total distribution in both breeding and nonbreeding seasons is small. This, combined with widespread habitat destruction and alteration, has landed this bird on the Audubon WatchList.
Coolio
Inca Doves
Wow! A vermllion flycatcher
A cordilleran flycatcher
Broad Billed Male Hummingbird
And what diary about Arizona would be complete without a picture of the Grand Canyon and neighboring San Francisco peaks?
Arizona is rich diverse biosphere from alpine tundras to the Sonoran Desert. The Sonoran Desert is actually half marine. In fact, it is the only North American desert that is maritime in nature. And, were it not for the Sea of Cortez and its high evaporation rate, there would not be the moisture-laden air that produces the summer monsoons that characterize the Sonoran Desert, driving its extraordinary productivity and biodiversity, and setting it apart from the other deserts of the New World.
If you get a chance.
Check it out sometime.