Spring Scenes in the Southwest

I've done some wandering in the southwest this spring.  Though the rains have been spotty in many areas, there are still a lot of flowers...especially in Arizona, where moisture has been average or better.  And the landscapes are always fascinating.  This is the Pinnacles, about an hour east of Monterey, but a totally different world.  Summers here are scorching, while winter nights bring hard freezes.  Digger pines predominate, just as they do in the western Sierra foothills.

A lizard hangs out on a lichen encrusted rock at Pinnacles.

Suz, Wil, and I headed back to Las Vegas for the Pac 12 mens basketball tournament earlier this month.  At our customary stop in Baker (nowhere else to stop between Barstow and Nevada) we found to our delight that the thermometer was working again after a multiyear period of dormancy.  This is supposedly the worlds largest thermometer!  Blow up the pic to see the numbers clearly.

Though Vegas is vast, sprawling, and hectic, you can get away from the city with surprising ease.  This pic was taken about 35 miles from the MGM Grand, on the way up to Mount Charleston.  The mountain is a sky island extending almost two miles above the city.  Instead of casinos and cactus, snow and ponderosa pines dominate, with Joshua trees at lower elevations.

Moving on to Picacho Peak SP, between Phoenix and Tucson, I hiked part way up the mountain and found a large field of saguaros, including many young cacti, always an encouraging sign in the Sonoran desert, where the sags are under fire from climate extremes, urbanization, and "cactus nappers" who poach mature saguaros for landscaping purposes.

A fine desert chicory in Sabino Canyon, near Tucson.

Sabino Canyon has a hugely diverse array of vegetation.  On sunny, southfacing slopes, protected from frost, thick groves of saguaro thrive.

The light at Sabino on St Patricks Day was great!  Here a tranquil Sabino Creek reflects rocks below a threatening sky over the Catalina Mountains.  Blow this pic up...the scene was spectacular!  And I dangled my feet in the creek and got in some slotation on a nice slab of granite.

Tree branches reflect in the calm creek waters.

  

A cottonwood on the banks of the creek.  These water loving trees grow only a few yards from the saguaros on the slopes away from the water.

A cardinal checks out the photographer.  This is the western edge of their range...wish we had them in Monterey.