BeenToTheDesert

I’ve Been to the Desert…and I Took Photos

Right below Italy on my list of favorite places, you will find the desert southwest of the U.S. I am attracted to the stark beauty, the rock formations, and the desert plant life struggling to survive.

Regarding the survival of the plant life, many perished in a desert wildfire in June of 2020. This fire, known as the Bush Fire, destroyed 193,455 acres of desert plant life in Tonto National Forest (forest?). You will see photos below of the destruction caused by this fire, which was started because of a car fire on the Bee Line Highway (Arizona Hwy 87). If 30-50% of a saguaro cactus is scorched, it will not survive, though it will take a few years for it to be obvious.

Other than cacti, you will see desert boulder and rock formations, colorful sunsets, and even a burger!

As always, click on an image to get a larger view.

Sticky Situations

Many cacti have a pointy, protective surface, like those below. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to find a couple of sticks and use them chopstick-fashion to pick a clump of cholla spines from my shoe or pants leg. Or to do the same to an elbow, having to wait until returning to my hotel to grab tweezers and get to work pulling these pokey protuberances from my skin.

Monarchs of the Desert

The Saguaro is by far my favorite of the cacti family. Whether straight as a telephone pole, or with arms outstretched and reaching toward the heavens, they are majestic. There are hillsides west of Tucson that are covered with these beautiful (well, to me, at least) cacti. In fact, Saguaro National Park can be found there.

Just Boulders

Tough you will see boulders above, the primary focus are the saguaro cacti. The boulders of the Sonoran desert are characterized by erosion, primarily through freeze-thaw conditions that ‘flake off’ small marble-sized pieces. These small, rough stones can be found throughout urban area as residential ‘ground cover’. The surface of most of the boulders below have the texture of a very, very rough sandpaper.

Variation on a Boulder Theme

I have to admit that I had fun producing various creative techniques for my desert photos. Below, you will see a photo of one particular boulder pile, with several creative finishes. My personal favorite is the last photo, where I applied the Samoan-like hieroglyphics.

A Desert Wildfire

Here you will see the ravages of fire. It amazes me that a fire can spread over almost 200,000 acres in a desert, where there appears to be such sparse vegetation. My understanding is that invasive grass species have outcompeted the native species and have flourished, creating a carpet of tender that is spread throughout the desert floor.

Some photos, like those at the beginning of this gallery, show the obvious damage of the fire. In some photos, the slick, almost leather-like, appearance of the normally green covering is obvious. While in other photos, you will see thorns burned like the end of a spent match, or the pores where the thorns once grew are just completely burned away.