A bit of morning snow turned the usual impressive desert landscape into something more magical.
Tucson – January 2023 – Saguaros and Light Snow
Tag: Desert
Tucson – October 2021 – Late Afternoon on the Mountain
An afternoon trip up Mt Lemmon to check out the leaves.
The late afternoon drive offered numerous shadowing shots.
A climber near Windy Point made her way to the top.
The views towards sunset caused dramatic effects.
We reached the valley floor just before sunset.
A quick trip through Saguaro National Park as the sun finally set.
Oracle, Arizona – August 2022 – Moorish Oasis in the Arizona Desert
In the early part of the 20th century many wealthy people from ‘back east’ made their way to Arizona to live in the dry desert for their health. A man from Chicago named Neil Kannally was one of those people, who came west to recover from TB.
Kannally originally bought a 180 acre homestead, but over the years increased his ownership to 50,000 acres. The homestead came with a small home that Kannally added onto, as well as adding other small cottages.
Eventually in the late 1920s he had a 2600 square foot home built in a Moorish/Mediterranean style.
In addition to the main building, there were a number of small cottages that served as bedrooms, in the same architectural look.
Not what you would expect out in the middle of the desert, it served the family until the 1970s, when the last of the family passed away. Today 4000 of those original acres serves as Oracle State Park, and the home is the centerpiece.
The courtyard and buildings serve as an oasis in the desert as well as the visitor center for the park.
Much of Oracle State Park serves as a nature preserve, providing a safe haven for local wildlife as well as transitory birds. It is a peaceful place to visit, although I would recommend waiting until the weather cools off a bit in October and through the winter.
Tucson – August 2022 – Monsoon Blooms
So far 2022 monsoon season has been very good, with plentiful afternoon thunderstorms, and sunshine each morning.
As a result the desert blooms are doing great. This is shown from a recent visit to Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens (along with one in front of the Ignite Sign Museum).
Joshua Tree National Park, California – July 2022 – Amazing Desert Landscape
In the southwest United States there is a variation of a yucca known as a Joshua Tree. It was named that by some Mormon settlers in the 1800s.
The Joshua Tree National Park covers a vast area of Southern California. The parts of the park at a lower elevation are in the Sonoran Desert, while those where the Joshua Trees are located at a higher elevation are in the Mojave Desert.
In addition to the tree there are many interesting rock formations throughout the park. A combination of volcanic activity, seismic activity and erosion has lead to some great shapes.
Some have eroded to look like faces and skulls in the rocks.
Climbing around on the rocks is a favorite activity – even in a vampire cape.
From Keys View you can see all of the Coachella Valley, from Salton Sea at -230 elevation to 10,800′ San Jacinto Peak. The view below is looking back towards Palm Springs.
The southern portion of the park is in the lower elevation Sonoran Desert. It features an area known as the Cholla Cactus Garden – an area with more chollas than I have ever seen in such a small space.
Joshua Tree National Park is a unique natural setting well worth the trip.
Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah – May 2022 – What a Butte
Easily one of the most recognizable locales in the Southwest, Monument Valley is part of the Navajo Nation. The Tribal Park offers the opportunity to tour the valley via a 17 mile dirt and gravel road.
It is interesting to note that unlike a national park, people live in the valley, so you will see farms and homes scattered about.
Mescal, Arizona – May 2022 – Old West Movie Studio
For many decades when Hollywood wanted to make a Western movie, they came to Arizona, with Tucson alone having over 1500 location credits on IMDB.
About 40 miles east of downtown Tucson is a small dusty town of Mescal. Just north of town, with a perfect backdrop of the Rincon Mountains, is the Mescal Movie Studio.
Originally built in 1968 for the movie Monte Walsh, it was one of the settings for a number of famous movies including Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Tombstone, The Quick and the Dead, as well as many TV shows including Little House on the Prairie.
Over the years it had fallen into disrepair, until recently when a local family purchased it and began restoring it. Each Friday, Saturday and Sunday they are open for tours, which include volunteer actors.
Our docent lead us on a very informative 1 hour tour. While not a fan of western movies in general, the tour, and the history of the place makes this a great stop – far better than the tacky touristy setting of the actual town of Tombstone.
One of the clock faces from the movie The Quick and the Dead – a key to the movie’s plot.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona – April 2022 – Sonoran Desert Specialty
The Organ Pipe Cactus is very different from the more prevalent Saguaro in that rather than 1 large trunk with arms growing off of it, the Organ Pipe cactus has numerous small ones, making it somewhat bushy, resembling the pipes of an Organ (hence the name)
It is very rare in the United States, with the national monument just north of the Mexican border being the predominant one.
In addition to the Organ Pipe Cactus and the Saguaro, the park has many other examples of desert flora.
The Painted Desert – April 2022 – Colorful Badlands
The Painted Desert is a result of siltstone, mudstone and shale containing iron and manganese compounds, that erode easily. The result is a very colorful landscape, void of vegation.
While the Painted Desert goes for about 100 miles north of the Petrified Forest National Park, you get plenty of examples within the park itself.
Petrified Forest National Park – April 2022 – A Gem in the Desert
A petrified forest is created when fallen trees are washed into a space and then buried under layers of mud, ash and other materials, depriving the oxygen required for rot. Over millions of years the wood’s cellular structure form into a stone like material.
Generally considered the world’s best example, the Petrified Forest National Park is in northern Arizona, situated in the Painted Desert (next posting).
The setting and colors of the Petrified Forest is amazing. Most look just like wood, some even appear to have been cut with a saw.
RDZ Photography 