Gila Box National Riparian Area

Gila Box National Riparian Area is 20 miles north east of Safford AZ.  An area of strong contrasts, dry rocky desert is contrasted by running water.  The Gila River runs in the bottom of a rugged canyon.  We found a BLM campground and enjoyed 4 days of camping.  The area has been protected to provide for the many migrating birds that travel through and nest in the canyon bottoms.  The river and streams that flow in the bottoms of the canyon support a narrow band of trees, mostly cottonwoods and mesquites. The cottonwoods were just beginning to leaf out.

Bonita Creek runs quietly through dense undergrowth below the cottonwoods.
The Gila River floods periodically and rips out the trees keeping them from growing very large but in the tributary Bonita Creek we found this massive old cottonwood.

Julian's Ranch

Annie and I were lucky enough to be invited to a working cattle ranch owned by Faith's boyfriend Julian's family.  Located north of Mount Graham at about 4000' elevation it was cold. The wash that runs through the area is dry but water is not to far below the surface and supports huge Arizona sycamores and Cottonwoods. Rose, Julian's mom directed me to the ruins of an ancient Native American village.  Stones show the foundations of the village. A magical place in the desert.

Arizona sycamores are more smooth barked than the sycamores we have in Missouri.

This is a Parry's Agave, one of the twelve species of agave that live in AZ.  They were used by Native Americans for food, fiber, soap, beverages, and medicines.  Tequila is made from fermented juice from one of the agave species.

Vail AZ, Base Camp

Our daughter Faith lives in Vail and has graciously allowed us to use her home as a base camp. Vail is east of Tucson (20 miles) and near Saguaro National Park East.  They grow large saguaros there. The saguaro is the largest member of the cactus family and Annie is dwarfed by this one.

Many different kinds of agave can be found in the Sonoran Desert.  This is called a Sotol. 

It has snowed in the Tucson area both of the last two times that I have visited.  
Faith's dogs enjoyed the morning walk in the snow. Good times are being had by all.

Tucson

We made it back to Tucson about three weeks ago.  I'm having a little trouble with accurate time keeping so I may be wrong about that. Driving in from the west gave us an opportunity to hike up to an area in Saguaro West National Park where petroglyphs can be seen.  It was a really nice hot day in the 80's and a pleasure to find the area very much the same as it was eleven years ago when we left AZ.


In the canyon walls of the area it is possible to find some tough desert ferns. Usually requires some seepage coming out the cracks of the walls.
This ones for you Matt.

Organ Pipe National Monument

We traveled south of Yuma and spent a couple of nights in Ajo AZ.  From there we made a day trip to Organ Pipe National Monument. This is the only place in the US where these cactii are found.  One of our goals was to find spring as soon as possible and Organ Pipe was the first place after Sacramento that had started the spring bloom.  It's been about 3 weeks since we were there and since that time it has rained.  We are planning on heading back this week for a few nights of camping and painting.

Heading south from the Mojave Desert we stopped north of the Yuma Sand Dunes.  

Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert south and west of Las Vegas in California is a rugged harsh place.  I would not like to be stranded here in the summer.  There was a major fire in 2005 and burnt up a lot of the pine and juniper areas in the higher elevations.  
Fortunately the fire did not reach out into the Joshua Tree areas.  Joshua Trees are the largest of the yucca family.
We hiked a trail through Hole in the Wall. Three sections included vertical climbs assisted by the permanently attached rings.  A rather exciting climb to say the least.  After completing the first vertical climb of about 15 feet you were either committed to climbing on or climbing back down.  We climbed on. 
At the top light was being reflected up through the gap.