Twenty years ago on this day I woke after a night under the stars to bird song then spent the day walking through the Superstition Mountains on the Arizona Trail. In my journal I wrote: "a great day, but long and hard ..... mainly due to the very rough, rugged terrain, but also the scenery - I spent some time looking and photographing".
Mostly I was in red rock desert but in Cottonwood Canyon "suddenly and delightfully it became a deciduous woodland in spring with fresh grass, clover and even dangling wild grape vines under a canopy of freshly green sycamores, oaks and cottonwoods. Through this narrow strip of verdant luxury runs Cottonwood Creek, a spring-fed stream. Through the trees saguaros and other cactii can be seen on desert hillsides, a strange juxtaposition. In places saguaros and cottonwoods are only feet apart." Water in the desert is always a wonder. Soon the stream faded into the stones, the greenery went with it, and I was back in the desert under the harsh sun.
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