{"id":26952,"date":"2025-05-19T17:04:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T23:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/?p=26952"},"modified":"2025-05-19T17:04:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T23:04:50","slug":"sky-island-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/?p=26952","title":{"rendered":"Sky Island Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Gradually increasing my distance and elevation, the challenge was finding a hike with the right combination, plus a destination that made it interesting. For this Sunday, I picked a steep hike to a “pine park” \u2013 a shallow, grassy basin in the sky surrounded by tall ponderosa pines. This destination had the added bonus of a short extension into the next watershed, overlooking a spectacular canyon.<\/p>\n

It’s a two-hour drive, and along the way, I found the desert willows were blooming beside the big arroyos.<\/p>\n

\"Through <\/a>
Through the pass, first view of mountains <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Desert <\/a>
Desert willows blooming beside highway <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8310\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Entering <\/a>
Entering interior basin <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Approaching <\/a>
Approaching end of road <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Over the years, I’ve gradually become more sensitive to species differences in the trees I hike past, and curious about their names. I’d picked up a field guide to trees a few weeks ago, and brought it along. It turns out I didn’t have the time to stop and identify trees along the trail, so I photographed their identifying features, and made the identifications from the photos later, at home.<\/p>\n

Dangerous winds had been forecast all over the region, and my hat blew off as soon as I got out of the vehicle. The trail begins in a sycamore-shaded canyon bottom, bores through a long tunnel of scrub, then climbs steep switchbacks on loose rocks past alligator junipers and various oaks and pines.<\/p>\n

\"First <\/a>
First time I’ve seen it dry here <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Heading <\/a>
Heading up through the sycamores <\/div> <\/div>
\"Black <\/a>
Black cherry <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Finally, <\/a>
Finally, some slow-moving water <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Silverleaf <\/a>
Silverleaf oak <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8333\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Climbing <\/a>
Climbing above the canyon <\/div> <\/div>
\"Netleaf <\/a>
Netleaf oak, which is mostly a shrub <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8386\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Arizona <\/a>
Arizona white oak <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"That <\/a>
That peak is about 2,500′ above me <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Arizona <\/a>
Arizona madrone <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8389\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

At the base of a talus slope. the switchbacks end and the trail begins a steep traverse across the upper slopes of the watershed, through mixed conifer forest that now includes Douglas-fir. Eventually it joins another trail that leads through giant boulders to the pine park. Considering how parched the land is now, I was surprised to find wildflowers at the entrance to the park, in a narrow corridor lined with aspen seedlings.<\/p>\n

\"New <\/a>
New leaves on Gambel oak <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Beginning <\/a>
Beginning the traverse <\/div> <\/div>
\"Douglas-fir\" <\/a>
Douglas-fir <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8416\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Blue <\/a>
Blue elderberry <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Old <\/a>
Old elderberry trunk <\/div> <\/div>
\"Traversing <\/a>
Traversing higher <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Tree <\/a>
Tree that wasn’t in my field guide! <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8393\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Another <\/a>
Another that wasn’t in the field guide <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Entrance <\/a>
Entrance to pine park <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8419\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8422Pano\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"IMG_8431\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8433\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

I continued into the next watershed for the big view. Wind was howling through, so this lofty perch was no place to linger.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/a>
The big canyon <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Chiricahua <\/a>
Chiricahua pine <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8448\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8449\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Another <\/a>
Another Chiricahua pine, from lower elevation <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8524\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"Interesting <\/a>
Interesting red and white rock exposures <\/div> <\/div>
\"Today's <\/a>
Today’s route <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Route <\/a>
Route showing big canyon <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

I rested in the relatively protected pine park for a half hour or so. But I was hungry, the hike was taking longer than expected due to the steep climb, and my lunch was waiting at the cafe below.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8453Pano\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8460\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8470\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"IMG_8472\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8474Pano\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8478Pano\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

On the way up, I’d been surprised to see no tracks \u2013 either of humans or animals \u2013 on this well-known trail. But I had seen horse sign from last year, and on the way down, I noticed how the horses had damaged the trail, destroying tread on traverses of steep slopes.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8488\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8492\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"Ponderosa <\/a>
Ponderosa dying from upper needles downward <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"IMG_8501\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Trail <\/a>
Trail damaged by horses <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ponderosa <\/a>
Ponderosa dying from lower needles upward <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Talus <\/a>
Talus slope <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"View <\/a>
View over the canyon I climbed up <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gradually increasing my distance and elevation, the challenge was finding a hike with the right combination, plus a destination that made it interesting. For this Sunday, I picked a steep hike to a “pine park” \u2013 a shallow, grassy basin in the sky surrounded by tall ponderosa pines. This destination had the added bonus of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,49,50,90,112,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chiricahuas","category-hikes","category-nature","category-plants","category-snowshed","category-southeast-arizona"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27011,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26952\/revisions\/27011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxcarmichael.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}