Ed and I hiked Marshall Gulch over a week ago. This week his brother, Bob, joined us, and we hiked it again. And what a treat it was! We were able to notice new flower species in bloom, such as Fendler hawkweed (Hieracium fendleri), and Rock jasmine (Androsace septentrionalis) a tiny white flower.

Rock jasmine – about 3 inches high

On the trail we met a young man with a serious back pack. He stopped to chat with us, but how he had time, I do not know, since, if I heard him correctly, he was hiking the Arizona Trail (about 800 miles long from Mexico to Utah), and had gone from the start of the trail at the Mexican Border, to the Catalina mountains in four or five days. That is a distance of about 185 miles. I confess to feeling a little nostalgic. The trail beckons to me, but I certainly could not stand his pace (about 40 miles a day.) Wow!

We were happy to show Bob the Spring coral root (Corallorhiza wisteriana). This time I was able to get a fairly good photograph. This is the earliest of the mountain orchids.

Spring coral root with red stems and a white lip

I also saw the mostly bare branches of Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), with last year’s fruit still on. I wonder why no one has eaten them. Hmm.

Poison ivy fruit

On our little piece of land in Tucson we like to let nature do the planting. Most of the flowers and shrubs on the property just showed up on their own. They call them “volunteers”. This includes the Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), a perennial shrub that has masses of beautiful yellow flowers. At the back of our property there is a fence, and over the fence a piece of land sloping down to the alley. Most years I ignore this, and it just becomes a wilderness of weeds. A few years ago I got the bright idea of planting Brittlebush in the alley. It can grow quite large, and effectively eliminates weeds. So I transplanted a few seedlings that had “volunteered” in the front of our house. They did not take. A year later I tried again. Again they did not take.

Brittlebush

 
This year I adopted a new plan. They have just finished blooming, so  I harvested the seeds from the many brittlebush plants on the property. I put them in a plastic bag and waited for rain. The forecast said there was a 20%chance of rain today, so I cleared the slope, scattered the seeds and raked them in. We will see if any of them germinate. My wife thinks I may have overdone it this time. Who needs a million brittlebush plants in their back yard?

On recent plant walks I have found a number of interesting items. On the 26th of February Ed and I were in Catalina State Park and came across a Prickly Pear, growing out of the trunk of a Mesquite tree. I have seen Prickly Pear growing eight feet high on a Saguaro but this was the first time to see one on a Mesquite.

On March the sixth, I drove alone up the Catalina mountains to the Butterfly trail head. It was surprisingly mild considering I was at about 8000′. I was looking for grasses in bloom, and found some, but was not able to identify them yet. On the way I almost tripped over a “witch’s broom.” This is a condition in which the growth pattern of a tree changes so that the branches and needles are much more thickly concentrated forming a kind of basket shape.  I took two pictures – one on the ground, and the other propped on a tree stump. Reading about it I learned that trees have growth hormones. Some control the way the plant sends out new branches and some inhibit growth. When the hormones get mixed up the tree forms these very irregular masses of branches, twigs and needles that are considerably heavier than normal growth. In this picture you can see a central branch – so small as to be a twig really, that was supporting this mass. Evidently it broke, and the “basket” came tumbling down. I believe it came off of a Douglas fir.

Proceeding along the trail I looked for one of my favorite flowers, the Redfuzz saxifrage. There were still patches of snow on the ground. I learned before that the plant will actually melt enough snow to poke through snow. On this walk I found a few plants with their red buds. By now the buds have opened to reveal these delightful white flowers, harbingers of spring in the mountains.

Redfuzz saxifrage (Micranthes eriophora)

Picture taken a few years ago.

 
Kayla decided to spend her spring break with her grandparents in Tucson, getting away from one of the harshest winters on record in deKalb, Illinois where she is completing her last year of college at Northern Illinois University. She loved the warmth and sunshine, and hiked with us in Molino Basin. On part of her visit the three of us, my wife, Louise, Kayla and I went for a trip to Sedona. On arrival at the visitors center we were told about a trail to the iconic Red Rock Crossing that we had never been on before. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk. At our farthest point we stood at the edge of the fast-flowing Oak Creek. Later we visited the fascinating shops in Tlaquepaque and then drove up Airport Hill to catch the sunset. Hundreds of other people had the same idea. There was something really nice about seeing so many people gathered, hugging each other in the chill evening air, just to watch the sunset.
Before leaving Sedona the next day we hiked in the West Fork trail. On getting home I was inspired to write this little poem about our final walk.

A POEM OF GRATITUDE

by Frank S Rose,  March 12, 2014

The sky overhead is striped with long curving lines of ice crystals
The ground underfoot is red and soft
A cluster of acorn woodpeckers plays tag darting back and forth between the bare apple trees
The air is soft and cool as groups of people make their way up the canyon.

The cliffs of red and ocher block out the morning sun
Up ahead it highlights an enormous Ponderosa pine and lays a patch of gold at its foot

We cross and re-cross the stream tracking damp footprints up the banks of red earth
It is early spring – the bare branches of red osier dogwood give a warm glow to the forest, especially where sunlight touches them
White Candytuft start to appear as we make our way up the canyon first a few – then a cluster, then a celebration.
There are a few yellow mustard plants just showing their colors
We see a thicket of ancient horsetail the great survivors of earlier times

Happy people greet us, including the couple that spoke to us as we waited to get seated at the restaurant last night.
Lively teens and wobbling infants add to the pageant of human life visiting this treasured part of Oak Creek.

We turn around just before stream crossing number 5 (out of 13) and soon are treated to new flowers
The pink Valerian we missed on the way up the canyon, now reminding us how easy it is to overlook nature’s treasures

We complete our timeless interlude to begin the long drive home.

Kayla and Louise walking toward Red Rock Crossing

People gathered to watch the sunset in Sedona

Wild Candytuft (Noccaea fendleri)

We are already into the New Year. This blog has been quiet, since my wife and I went to Minneapolis/St. Paul for Christmas. The drawing card was family – altogether 21 of us at one time or another. That included my wife, Louise, and I, three of our children, (Alan, Elizabeth and Jeremy), their spouses (Lesilee, Mike and Carol), 8 Grandchildren, one of whom had a spouse, and another a boy friend, and three Great Grandchildren. What a wonderful time we had. The snow and icy cold weather were difficult at times, and a treat. Some of us took a one mile walk in the -4 degree temperature, two took a longer hike in a nature center at about the same temperature, three of us walked out onto a frozen lake, complete with ice-fishing holes, trucks and huts. One very cold night, -13 degrees, we tested the suggestions as to “how to enjoy cold weather” first by freezing water filled balloons, then by blowing soap bubbles and watching at least some of them freeze enough to land on the ground and roll around, and throwing boiling water into the air to watch it instantly turn into fine snow.

I guess it was predictable that the most entertainment was provided by Isha, less than two years old, with her impish grin and endless antics.

It seemed a little foolish to travel in such wintry conditions. Our flight were delayed both ways, but we did arrive safely at both ends, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

After only a few hours sleep, I woke fairly early on New Year’s Day and persuaded my friend Dave to go hiking with me. We went to Molino Basin. On the way up the mountain I suggested we visited “our” Rosewood tree. This was a fairly ambitious suggestion, since it involved going off the trail and up a steep hill. I was particularly interested to revisit the tree. It is featured in my book. “Mountain trees”. In lectures I have pointed out that although the tree is less than fifteen feet tall, its trunk suggests that it might be very old. So far I had not actually measured it.

Here Dave, (who is 5″ 4″) has his hiking stick on his head (another 5′) and the top of the stick does not reach the top of the tree, which we think is over 14′ tall.

It is hard to see clearly in this picture, but the trunk is very complex, and very wide.

We arrived at the tree and realized that we did not bring a measuring tape. Gathering various straps we linked them together and constructed a line that we could wrap around the base of the tree. As you can see from the photograph, this was no mean feat. The trunk is complex with two main trunks and some smaller ones. Dave marked our make-shift ruler so that we could check it when we got back home. We guessed from looking at it, that the base of the tree was about eight feet around.

As we sat and enjoyed our refreshments I kept looking up the hill and to the right. Above us there was a fairly level arm of the mountain, and it seemed to be calling to us. Finally I suggested to Dave that we might want to climb up there. Well, once such an idea is in the air it is hard to resist, so we left our packs and extra gear by the Rosewood tree, and scaled the hill. It was well worth it. We eventually found ourselves on a ridge commanding views from both sides. We could look down, way down, into the Molino Basin, and turning around, to the Tucson Basin even as far as Mexico and New Mexico. What a thrill it was to sit there high in the mountain on a perfect day.

Looking down to our Rosewood tree from our first trek higher up the mountain

Then I found myself looking up again, and finally mentioned to Dave that he might want to see if we could go higher. Soon he was off up the hill, and then beckoned me to follow. It was steep in some places, but gentle and easy walking terrain in others, ending in a magnificent pile of rocks. We had reached the top! Years ago we had wondered what that would be like. Today, by going in stages, we got there. There was something very wonderful about sitting on those flat rocks and scanning the view. The only jarring notes came from the rumble of cars and the roar of motorcycles driving 500 feet below us.

Dave at the very top of the peak. Snow is visible on the Rincon Mountains in the distance.

When we got down we looked back up. The highest point in this picture is the peak.

As usual we kept our eyes out for flowers, and found two species in bloom – spiny aster and wiry lettuce.

Returning to Dave’s we took out our make shift measuring device, placed it alongside a measuring tape, and found that it was exactly eight feet long!

I had agreed to give a talk at the “Meet the Monument” event, put on by the Friends of Ironwood Forest on Saturday, November 16.  This is an area that has appealed to me. I had often looked at Ragged Top mountain driving along I 10, hoping one day to explore this part of southern Arizona. The route took me along Silverbell Road which turns into a dirt road for over five miles before arriving at the Monument. I did not see another car for miles and wondered if I would have only three or four people for my talk. This thought was immediately dispelled when I turned the corner, and there, stretching for well over a quarter of a mile, were cars parked along the roadside. People were milling around, some about to go on a plant walk with Ries Lindley from the Native Plant Society, others going on photography walks, some visiting the various booths set up or going to see the Yaqui Deer Dancers. We were warmly greeted by Lahsha Brown, and other volunteers.

I was the lead off speaker with about 40 people attending my talk. I talked about trees in general and then about Ironwood and other trees of the Sonoran Desert. A number of other talks  followed. There were lectures on plants, bighorn sheep, archeology, herpetology, and other topics. I learned a lot, including the suggestion that this part of the Sonoran Desert could better support life than the uplands of Arizona, because of the variety of plants many of which provided food and other useful materials. They also had extensive irrigation systems. Today there is a healthy population of bighorn sheep.

Ironwood tree flanked by saguaros in Ironwood National Monument

The crowd kept on growing until an estimated 300 people were at the event enjoying a gorgeous day and one of the most interesting parts of Arizona. As I left I knew that it would not be long before I returned to take more photographs of the views, vegetation and wildlife of this fascinating area.

Ragged Top with its distinctive profile

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of giving a talk to a group of people at our Church. They were treasurers for congregations in various parts of the world including a gentleman from the Ivory Coast who did not speak English. I dug deep into my memory and conjured up some French phrases so that he would feel included: “Bonsoir mesdames et messieurs. . .” After a day of meetings the people were ready to laugh. I told them about how at my retirement as pastor of this congregation ten years ago, we were given, among other things,  a set of luggage and a camera.

When I showed this photograph of the well-worn luggage, there were ripples of laughter. We had lugged them to various destinations such as: England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Minnesota, Bryn Athyn Pennsylvania and Berkeley California.

Later I showed this picture of me using a camera.

The moment the picture came on the screen, they all laughed. Then I told them how I have had the experience of lying down on the ground, grey hair flying, and having a passerby approach with deep concern, “Sir, are you all right?”
More laughter. But the biggest laugh came when I said, “This picture was taken by my psychiatrist.” Howls of laughter. I had not finished my sentence – it was my psychiatrist friend, Ed.

Anyway, it proved to be a very pleasant evening, and I achieved one of my goals, to stimulate interest in the beauty and wonder of grasses. I showed them flower and tree pictures, plus some of the grass pictures I have posted on this blog.