Archive for the ‘Aspen Trees’ Tag

Mt. Lemmon Aspen Trees Talking Truth   2 comments

Mt. Lemmon Aspen Trees — Image by kenne

Come with me to the Talking Tree
a place where spirit and nature can be.
Where science of the forest couples
with ancient traditions of the land.
Where indigenous people learn to live
with trees mindfully hand in hand.

Listen to branches rustling hymns
through silent sounds in their limbs.
Mighty Maples murmur in the breeze
sweet tales of syrup drawn to please.

Trees converse, they do care sending
forest messages everywhere.
Through the air and underground
signals pulse from floor to crown.

Quaking Aspen is known for being
the earth’s most massive living thing
these trees united by one root system
the world’s largest superorganism.

— from Talking Tree Truth by Greg Gaul 

SCVN Friday Hike On The Oracle Ridge Trail #1(June 14, 2013)   4 comments

Oracle Ridge #1 SCVN HikeOracle Ridge Trail, View South Toward Mount Lemmon (Since I Was Leading This Year’s Hike,This Is An Image From Last Year) — Image by kenne

Oracle Ridge Trail #1

Once a trail
through the Mount Lemmon Forest,
shaded by tall ponderosas
until the trail reached the ridge
where the only shade
was from large alligator junipers.

This picture made it a favorite
of many southern Arizona hikers,
till ten years ago
the ridge was charred
by the Aspen Wildfire,
leaving only minds eye images.

Now, ten years out
many blacken trees remain
as new aspen, pine seedlings
and New Mexico locust
bring back the green
to the ridge.

Always a moderately
difficult trail on the return,
the loss of shade
has made it less inviting
to those looking for 
a cool retreat from 
the desert heat below —

still #1 for some.

kenne

Short iPhone Video Clip At Dan’s Saddle Where We Rested Under Sparse Shade Before Starting Our Return Up The Ridge.

Phil Bentley Playing The Harp

Capturing The Moment — Marshall Gulch Trail   3 comments

Break time along the Marshall Gulch Trail — Image by kenne (Photo Set)

One of my favorite places to hike on Mt. Lemmon is Marshall Gulch. Several trails are leading
to even more trails. Because part of the area was burned by the 2003 wildfire (Aspen Fire), part of the
area has a lot of aggressive ground cover with plenty of aspen and New Mexico Locus trees.

— kenne