Through Autumn's golden gown we used to kick our way;
You always loved this time of year.
Those fallen leaves lie undisturbed now,
'Cause you're not here.
Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,
Like a leaf on the breeze you blew away.
Justin Hayward (1978)
Looking west from Sugarloaf (dome), with Lockett Meadows and the Inner
Basin of the San Francisco Peaks (volcano) in the background.
Photo credited to the Museum of Northern Arizona (Autumn of 1991)
The Mixed Conifer Forest (of northern AZ) is the richest zone in the number
of plant species. Dominated by four kinds of trees - Douglas-fir, white fir,
limber pine and quaking aspen - this is an open forest with rich, moist soil
and cool ground. The large number of trees provides a diversity of forest
floor and meadow habitats for shrubs, grasses and wildflowers.
Black bears are residents of remote parts of this zone, and mule deer and
elk are seen browsing on understory grasses and herbs.
That's the east face of AZ's second highest peak, snow-covered Agassiz Peak seen well above tree-line to the far right.
Comments
Post a Comment