Yesterday I took a somewhat strenuous hike into an area northeast of
Phoenix, this time venturing further into a remote ravine that had captured my
interest. Even before getting started, I came across a very rare albino
California Poppy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133356937/in/photostream
Shortly after getting under way, I came across a small patch of Trailing
Four O'Clock:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133357705/in/photostream
Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) were in full bloom, and it was all but
impossible to ignore the heavy scent of this poisonous plant. This one
specimen was about four feet across:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133359009/in/photostream
The flowers can be as much as six inches across and eight inches deep from
the lip of the bell to the bottom of the throat. This one, a bit over four
inches across, is of average size:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/6987276140/in/photostream
Getting into the backcountry here involves following dry washes, abandoned
dirt roads, and fairly often just heading out cross-country. Following a
heavily washed out dirt track along a steep slope:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/6987370626/in/photostream
provided a rare opportunity to photograph a Sahuaro cactus flower from above:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133360311/in/photostream
Even with a tripod this was no simple task. The flower was about fifty feet
away at a downward angle of about 25 degrees. It took a 260mm lens and a 2X
teleconverter to get it to this size, with the aperture open to f/5.6 so as to
speed up the shutter and compensate for the vibration caused by the wind.
After getting to the top of the ridge separating the two drainages and
then scrambling over a barbed wire fence, I was greeted with this very inviting
view of an unspoiled desert ravine with Maverick Mountain in the background:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133361511/in/photostream
And the bottom of the ravine showed that getting there was well worth the
effort:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133362773/in/photostream
I'll have to return next year and allow more time for exploring the various
side drainages and especially the seeps where large Sycamore trees were sighted:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/6987370634/in/photostream
Last week I had difficulty locating a Rambling Milkweed that was worth
photographing. This week they were everywhere:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/6987279460/in/photostream
Towards the end I was resting beneath a large Sugar Bush across from a
hanging garden and happened to notice a small, dark patch of vegetation with
small yellow flowers growing out of a crack in the canyon wall. Looking
closer revealed a flower that I had not encountered before, Toothed
Monkeyflower (Mimulus dentilobus):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133363679/in/photostream
This flower is so rarely seen that even the ASU herbarium and the USDA Plants
website do not have photos.
This area is certainly going to be visited again in the fall and next
spring.
Chris
Chris
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|