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| Hiking | 1.00 Miles |
3,610 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.00 Miles | 2 Hrs | | 0.50 mph |
| 3,610 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I joined the Tonto Basin Chapter of the Arizona Native Plant Society on a field trip today down the Chillicut Trail and adjacent washes. There were about 20-25 folks in attendance, including one very well-behaved doggo. This wasn't a legitimate hike per se but rather more of a meandering along the trail for a short distance, discussing different keystone species and their relationship to the desert and each other.
We started out right at the trailhead, where I was somewhat surprised to see some Thurber's Desert Honeysuckle in bloom. I first saw this delicate desert plant on the west side of Four Peaks on an ill-fated Thanksgiving campout last year, so I guess the timing isn't too far off. The wash of Rock Creek has a multitude of Arizona Sycamores growing up from their root crowns following the (Bush?) fire that burned through the area some years ago. Within the wash, one could also find Desert Broom, various grasses, Prickly Pear, and lots of Desert Willow. Another surprise for me was when the field trip leader pointed out an Elderberry. I usually associate Elderberries with higher, cooler, moister areas of Arizona, so to see one in the desert holding hands with a suite of plants from the Sonoran Thornscrub and Interior Chaparral was not something I was expecting.
Continuing up the trail, we passed by sizeable thickets of Sonoran Scrub Oak, teeming with various galls of different species. One of these galls actually hatched for me and several others as we were examining it, revealing the tiny black wasp inside (See the photoset; I'm not quite advanced enough to link to a specific photo yet). Other chaparral species growing within the wash included catclaw Acacia, catclaw Mimosa, Hollyleaf Redberry, Sugar Bush, and Mountain Mahogany. Isolated occurrences of Palo Verde were on the slopes, and there are two individual Saguaros growing on an exposed, south-facing slope above the trail at one point, one of which has a huge nest of some kind in its arms.
As the trail followed the drainage around a curve, the wandering wash naturally drew the eyes to the hulking mass of Browns Peak, towering over Tonto Basin. The weather was fantastic, and one could easily see the Ponderosas growing near the top of the impressive edifice. I really need to get back up to the pass someday...
The group followed the trail down to the bottom of the drainage and then stepped off the trail into the drainage as the main path ascended the ridgelines leading toward the Mazatzals. In the wash we made some closer examinations of catclaw Acacia, Sacred Datura, and Fremont's Cottonwood before turning around and retracing our steps to the trailhead. Before we intersected the trail in the wash, the raspy cry of a Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay caught my attention, and I spotted the boisterous corvid just before it flew over the ridge and out of sight. On the drive back home, I also spotted a gorgeous male Phainopepla and two circling Red-tail hawks. I plan to return to do this hike in earnest again sometime in the spring when the desert flowers are blooming. Nice day! |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Light
Sycamores were nearly done, with their rapidly dropping leaves an orangy brown. The Cottonwoods were another story, bright green-yellow and absolutely radiant in the midday sun. |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Desert Honeysuckle and I spotted some late-season snakeweed. |
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