Hidden in the Woods

[jbeegoode]

A little about my secret getaway, a sanctuary on a mountain.

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2019/10/17/hidden-in-the-woods/

Jbee

[nuduke]

I never fail to boggle at the huge variety of natural locations/habitats/conditions you have in AZ, Jbee.
From your narrative in this blog post, you seem to indicate you have been to this marvellous woodland on frequent occasions.  How often do you go here and, remarkably, how the ****  do you fit these visits in amongst all your other trips to naked locations.  You don't say, for instance, how far is it and what drive time from your home.  And how come never reported before? 
It's a wonderful lush green forest not dissimilar to some temperate UK locations.  I guess it is the altitude that determines the flora and fauna, is it not.
I assume that it has one key feature that is uncommon in the UK - the fact that it is warm, being in AZ which is very desertified.
What sort of temperatures do you find in these woods and what would be the sea level desert temperature at the same time?
Lovely
John

[jbeegoode]

You saw the different ecology between 2000 ft. Phoenix to pine-topped Flagstaff, when you visited Arizona. It went through high desert grass lands, too. We can do that in 45 minutes to an hour here in Tucson (2500ft to 3000ft.) to 9400ft. I used to get up there in 20 minutes in my BMW, sunroof and BEER between my legs. There are also several sky islands surrounding us without a highway to the top.

Elevation has much to do with the ecological variations, but tall mountains tend to have clouds and rain stuck to them, which often falls downhill. It gets much more moister and snow melt and granite rock storage. There are five seasons at all elevations. There is also monsoon rain and winter snow (there's a ski run up on Mt. Lemmon). It can feel like summer down here and I can go through the seasons in an hour to play in the snow. There's about a 30 or 35 degree difference from top 9000ft. and 2500 ft. If it is over 104F here, then it is 75F or 80F up in my sanctuary depending on shade and time of day. There is about a 30F degree range between daily highs and lows.

This place is a day trip to spend a few hours and getting there is remarkable. It's like Redington Pass, I can't report all of the trips without getting redundant. I don't get up there but maybe one to three times a year, depending. There are so many different places to go in just Baja Arizona and seasonal implications with all. DF likes to go to new places, but this is an easy place to return to, for a naked picnic, solitude, escape. I've taken small children and been there on crutches.

I probably haven't reported it to keep it a secret, too. Ooops!

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2015/10/05/an-introduction-to-arizonas-sky-islands/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_Highway

https://www.arizonahighways.com/explore/scenic-drives/catalina-highway

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/mt-lemmon?sort=mostpopular&mediatype=photography&phrase=mt%20lemmon


Jbee