Springerville AZ. My fellow camper and I were finding so many RV boondocking sites that it was almost embarrassing. We were having so much fun with the drive that we climbed above the ponderosa pine and hit cheerful aspen and (ugly) spruce/fir.
Large yellow/black butterflies made use of clumps of pale blue/purple flowers. (Moved to my animals Picasa photo album.)
Perhaps my fellow camper was surprised that cynical ol' Boonie would stop for 20 minutes just to photograph butterflies and flowers. Is it a Western Tiger swallowtail alighting on a columbine?
I wish somebody would correct me. I do have a desire to know the names of things that I encounter at the moment of observation and inspiration, but you can act on this impulse only if you have a field guide, or these days, some kind of gadget and app. By the time you get home the impulse disappears.
We chose a patch of ponderosa forest (8500 feet) that belied my previous assertion that timber harvesting was a thing of the past in national forests since they are run according to Green theology rather than forest science. The forest here is drastically better for the selective logging taking place. They even did a good job of cutting stumps close to the ground so you don't have to look at them. After the first monsoon season this area will come booming back with flowers and grasses.
Ahh, but those stumps are well camouflaged. We came in all puffed up with overconfidence, as a result of which my fellow camper suffered some light damage due to a stump that was a half-inch too tall.
It made me appreciate the extra care that needs to be taken with a Class B motorhome compared to a naked van, thanks to the plumbing and plastic trim that hangs underneath the Class B motorhome. We had no excuse not to walk one person in front to serve as the "minesweeper."
Large yellow/black butterflies made use of clumps of pale blue/purple flowers. (Moved to my animals Picasa photo album.)
Perhaps my fellow camper was surprised that cynical ol' Boonie would stop for 20 minutes just to photograph butterflies and flowers. Is it a Western Tiger swallowtail alighting on a columbine?
We chose a patch of ponderosa forest (8500 feet) that belied my previous assertion that timber harvesting was a thing of the past in national forests since they are run according to Green theology rather than forest science. The forest here is drastically better for the selective logging taking place. They even did a good job of cutting stumps close to the ground so you don't have to look at them. After the first monsoon season this area will come booming back with flowers and grasses.
Ahh, but those stumps are well camouflaged. We came in all puffed up with overconfidence, as a result of which my fellow camper suffered some light damage due to a stump that was a half-inch too tall.
It made me appreciate the extra care that needs to be taken with a Class B motorhome compared to a naked van, thanks to the plumbing and plastic trim that hangs underneath the Class B motorhome. We had no excuse not to walk one person in front to serve as the "minesweeper."
Comments
Keying wildflowers is a fun hobby. If one is interested. It made college botany class very easy for me.
All a person need do is buy a Benchmark or DeLorme atlas for the state and decide what level of forest road indicator is right for your rig. If in doubt, explore the road first with your towed or a mountain bike.