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Re: [OM] Yesterday's Desert Hike

Subject: Re: [OM] Yesterday's Desert Hike
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 01 May 2012 19:52:42 -0400
I have no idea how you keep them all straight.  I especially appreciated 
the saguaro flower as I've seen plenty of saguaros but never seen one in 
bloom.  As difficult as it was to take I think it turned out to be one 
of the best shots.  The image is a bit soft but I think that adds to the 
feeling of the flower.
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/7133360311/in/photostream>

Chuck Norcutt


On 5/1/2012 6:12 PM, Chris Trask wrote:
>       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
-- 
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