Walker Basin Trail #136 Pt.2: A Trip Report

[jbeegoode]

I was going to get this one out sooner, but my computer went down and had to be repaired, new parts to wait for. I actually thought that it would be another week, until a surprise, yesterday.

The saga continues in the mountains of southern Arizona. We are experimenting, committed to our new strategy for the first time.
https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/02/16/walker-basin-trail-136-pt-2-a-trip-report/
Jbee

[nudewalker]

Just when things get boring you publish another one. According to the rodent about four weeks of winter left!

[jbeegoode]

That critter always sees its shadow around here, but that doesn't seem to effect the weather...but this year.
HAving had no winter to speak of , we are now getting that colder weather when it normally starts to warm. Then, last week it rained for three days straight. In my lifetime memory, I don't recall it raining in Tucson Arizona for that long. Two days tops and then two more after two days, which was a 100 year flood in like 1983. Not that I'm complaining, There has been only one rain since last July's short monsoon. Last spring was a drought, too. Friggin' climate change...extremes....

Got two days at the hot springs last weekend, it was supposed to be three, but...it rained that extra day. So, anyway, I've got a fresh story in the works and eight more on deck ready to go. There are still enough of varying quality to post each week for the rest of the year and then some. So...I won't let you get bored.
Jbee

[nuduke]

This episode of the Walker Basin trip just fills me with wonder that the terrain of AZ is so varied. Many of your walks show cactus strewn desert.  However, despite the obviously good weather, the terrain seems green and lush here with not only woody plants in leaf but moss and algae on the rocks too.  Is it a wetter area there?
John

[jbeegoode]

It is a part of the "sky Island" systems. More elevation, more vegetation. This canyon starts in a California-esque terrain (wine is created just a few miles away) and up into the transitions to pine forest, alpine like.

These same moss and lichen grow in my back yard in the desert naturally. They lay dormant until rain comes. The three days of rain that we had recently has brought out these. It is a sign of a healthy desert. Cattle decimate it and the soil blows away. It is integral to the desert. The moss pictured is there on the north slope at that time of year, I suppose it stays moist and stays around.

It is wetter because the rain clouds hang up on the mountain and the colder elevation enhances snow melt and runoff. The granite creates loads of underground water courses. Hence, forests.

There is a post/story and movie on the sky islands on the website, kind of early around 2015, I think.
Jbee

[eyesup]

Sky Islands
That's a term I ran into when I moved out here. Look at a map of Nevada, or anywhere west of Colorado and you will notice it. Large patches of forest scattered all over, many with the same name.

Forest ecosystems that are similar above certain elevations get categorized as part of the same forest. The farther south, and warmer it gets, life becomes isolated on land just as an island in the ocean does. Some animals don't cross between the islands because they may not survive the trek to the next mountain range.

It's something my wife and I love about camping and hiking. Moving up from the low, very dry desert to the higher wetter desert is always a noticeable, visual and sensory experience. Of course it's even more noticeable when wearing nothing except shoes.

POI, Jbee.
After reading the two Walker Basin reports on your website and naturally browsing other posts, I read again your trip reports of our meeting in Dewey, AZ. We weren't that high up yet you found a wonderful secluded, lush stream and wooded area to spend an afternoon in.

Nice step back to a great visit.

Duane

[jbeegoode]

Here's an introduction to Sky Islands published on my website October 5th, 2015:
https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2015/10/05/an-introduction-to-arizonas-sky-islands/
Jbee