|
|
Issue #22, Not Finished with the Snow yet!
Springtime in the Southern Rockies Some folks in Arizona actually like that cold, white stuff, and so they import it from Minnesota every winter just to have something to play in..... NOT.... The truth is, we get --darn it-- snow down here too! If it rains in Phoenix during the winter months, chances are Flagstaff, and even Prescott and Payson, will be getting a dump or two of snow. I was about 10 miles from Flagstaff and at about 7000 feet in elevation when I stopped to take this shot. The mountain is somewhere near twice that elevation, and definitely the area where I was standing to photograph was cold and windy. It's not unusual to see snow on the peeks well into July.... I got to Flagstaff a few minutes
later, did what I came to do, and turned around and went right back down the
hill to warmer temperatures. I wasn't interested in taking more pictures
because, in part, I only had on a light jacket. Besides, my truck has a
nice heater, why waste the amenities? We are having an extremely wet spring for the first time in many years. People are starting to think we're seeing an end to our decade-long drought. Water is flowing impressively in creeks that have been dry or rarely wet for years. Back roads are becoming mud pits.
After traveling down
a mud-filled rut
called a road, I came upon this area. The red rocks associated
with Sedona rest here, almost 20 miles beyond the town. Not all the
rocks are rusty red though. The mix of rocks and colors in the
creek beds and on land are very photogenic, and as the red rocks tend
to be shelf-like and the other rock formations jagged and pointy, I
wonder how nature got all these different stones together in the first
place. Streams continue to cut into the softer land formations, I note,
and perhaps if I were to return in, oh, 3 million years, I'd notice a big
difference in the creek channels...
I enjoy wandering around in the back country because I never know what I'll find. The spot I chose to photograph is also a popular area for camping. There must have been a family doing that at this place recently, because I stumbled across their old blue guard doggie. "Ol' Baby Blue" must have done a good job guarding the place because his master felt so safe he just flat out forgot the little fella! Or, maybe, "Blue" was sleeping under a briar bush when his family finished packing, couldn't find him, and had to leave because of very important things to do back in the city. After "Blue" finally got his big brown eyes open, he looked around and sadly discovered he was alone. I could tell he wasn't too happy out there, he had kind of a droopy face.... So, "Blue" must have decided he could search better for his master if he climbed a tree to look around. Stuffed animals are smart that way, ya know....That's where I found him, and that's where I left him, looking over the tall bushes and boulders from his lofty tree limb. Last I knew, he continues to scan the horizon for a glimpse of his master's vehicle and/or pop-up tent.
|
|
|
