A Day in the Pinaleños
(click on a photo to enlarge)
The Pinaleños Mountains are located in Graham county which is just north of Cochise County. The 14th highest peak in Arizona, Mt. Graham (10,696 feet), is located in these mountains. Driving north on US 191, you take a left onto Swift Trail (AZ 366) just a few miles south of Safford. The road is paved to over 9000′ after which the pavement ends. There are plenty of stops to make on the way up this very scenic drive.
As we drove along US 191, we remembered the gorgeous wildflower display that greeted us on our drive to this area back in April. The roadside and center strip were ablaze with wildflowers. Now, the beautiful pink Parry’s Penstemon had gone to seed so we stopped to collect some seeds with the hope of achieving the same effect on our property. I’m sure it won’t look like this but one can dream.
Wildflowers along US 191 toward Safford, April 2010
Fortunately we had better weather on this trip than we had back in April when we got caught in some pretty heavy snow flurries while in the mountains. If you make a stop at Dankworth Pond (part of Roper Lake State Park) before going up the Swift Trail, you can get a great view of the mountains. Mt. Graham is somewhat hidden behind the clouds.
The Pinaleños from Dankworth Pond
US 366 (Swift Trail) starts out straight as an arrow as it passes through chaparral scrub. When you get to the oak-woodland the twists and turns begin as you make the 6000′ ascent.
View of the valley below from one of the lower pull-offs
By the time you arrive at Wet Canyon, a picnic and hiking area, you are in mixed conifer/deciduous riparian habitat. The stream was flowing nicely but the sound made it difficult to hear birdsong. I did enjoy the Red Satyrs, Echo Azures and Two-tailed Swallowtail butterflies that were around the area.
A Mountain Stream
Our next stop was to an area where I hoped to find Mountain Chickadees as I haven’t added chickadee to my Arizona birdlist yet. Unfortunately there were no chickadees about on this day but there was a huge compensation for that miss. Two Spotted Owls were roosting and preening nearby and I was able to carefully approach and photograph them while peeking out from behind the trunk of a large Douglas Fir. I left the owls just as I found them.
Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis)
Because Spotted Owls need old growth forest (preferring Douglas fir), they are a species in jeopardy. The conflict is, of course, between humans and owls, logging or preservation of our pristine old-growth forests. I hope the owls come out on top but it doesn’t look promising.
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
The pavement ends just past Shannon Campground. We stopped for lunch here and as we sat at one of the picnic tables we enjoyed Magnificent and Black-chinned Hummingbirds, Yellow-eyed Juncos, Hairy Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, and a curious Cliff Chipmunk. As I walked around the campground I came across a small snake which turned out to be a Mexican Gartersnake, a protected species in Arizona. Unfortunately I had a telephoto lens on the camera and couldn’t get the whole snake in one photo.
Mexican Gartersnake (Thamnophis eques)
We drove the 11 miles of graded, dirt road as far as Riggs Lake (the road ends 3 miles past this spot). As we drove up the mountain, we saw lots of Red-faced Warblers, a few Olive and Grace’s Warblers, Pygmy Nuthatch, and other birds one would expect in the higher elevation Sky Islands.
Riggs Lake
On the way down, we made one last stop to photograph the scenic vistas and valley below. Those could be the Dragoon Mountains in the far distance.
Looking southeast
June 20th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Hi Arlene
Graham Co is still high on my list for my digital collection of AZ beetles that will ultimately result in an AZ beetle atlas. So I enjoyed your introduction to a part of it very much. Did you see any Umbeliferae that were blooming already?
June 21st, 2010 at 6:11 am
Arlene,
As always, thank you for recording your journeys and great images. The spotted owls image was wonderful! The day will come when I can stop by and take a little time birding and enjoying what AZ has to offer. Cheers