A Dry Piece of Paradise

A hellish shriek assaulted the cold 3 am darkness.

MichaelStephenWills

A hellish shriek assaulted the cold 3 am darkness.

The scream was instantly recognizable. Anything but terrified, after a confused scramble I reinserted the pin into a personal security device hung from my backpack. Wrapped in a silly waffle weave blanket, tossing restless in the cold, the pin lanyard hung up then pulled free. Several minutes had passed with that sound flowing out over the canyon, calling all carnivores to breakfast.

I had drifted off with the wind shaking my tent like a drunken prankster and now all was totally and absolutely quiet. In spite of the cold, the inadequate blanket and the imaginary creatures looking for the source of that scream, the next two hours sped by in a fitful doze.

Agave Heart

At 5 am I crawled out to find the thinnest crescent moon imaginable gracing the eastern sky, kept company by a century plant silhouetted against the early dawn light.

Click any photograph for a higher resolution image.
Century Plant Dawn
Century Plant Dawn

Click this link to see my photograph “Superstition Spring”

These stalks raise the golden flowers of this agave 10 to 15 feet above the green prickly rosette. Century plant stalks can be seen throughout the Superstitions, even at the high elevations among towering Ponderosa Pine.

Here is an agave in predawn light I caught on the next day, in Pine Creek canyon.

Agave
Agave in PreDawn Light

The leaves are used as needle and thread with the very sharp tip as the needle and the long leaf fibers, when properly dried and shredded, as thread. These leaves guard the agave heart from the harvest. A poke from an agave spike can be deep and painful.

The young shoots of the stalks are a succulent delicious treat raw. Roasted, the agave heart is a fresh, somewhat sweet delight. The earliest residents of this desert left numerous roasting pits on the mountain slopes, located where the agave still grows.

Dawn and the Pretty Hedgehogs

Although cold, the still dry air felt marvelous and even distant objects appeared absolutely clear. In this environment the spread of sun with its rising is a ritual. Here’s a photograph of the canyon walls a few minutes before the sun reached them.

SlopesOf2BarMountainPreDawn
Slopes of Two Bar Mountain in PreDawn Light

And, a few minutes later, as the sun passed the ridges of Two Bar Mountain.…

SlopesOfTwoBarMtnAtDawn
Dawn on the Slopes of Two Bar Mountain

By the way, that’s a desiccated agave stalk to the lower right, on the rocks.

At my feet, spread at intervals on the brown red broken rock, small Hedgehog cacti bloomed lavender.

Lavender Hedgehog, overview
Lavender Hedgehog Blossoms
Lavender Hedgehog Blossoms
Lavender Hedgehog Blossoms
Lavender Hedgehog Blossoms
Lavender Hedgehog Blossoms with Buds

Cacti, such as the blossoming lavender Hedgehog seen above, require a space which enjoys full sunlight for most of the day. The thick grown of juniper trees limited sunlight and compete with the cacti for water. This image will give you an idea of the extent of the juniper growth.

Nameless Canyon in the Dawn
Nameless Canyon in the Dawn

Looking into Nameless Canyon

In the above photograph you are looking west over a canyon that is unnamed on maps. The dramatic flat ridge bathed in light is a landmark marking the canyon of Reavis Falls, on the far side in this view. Make your way down the canyon where is joins Reavis Creek, turn left and the falls are a few miles upstream. This is NOT the easiest path to the falls.

As the sun rose I needed to prepare for the day’s trekking, but took one more portrait of this lovely nameless canyon traversed by an almost non-existent path.

Nameless Canyon Morning
Nameless Canyon Morning

This season, a cold stream ran at canyon bottom. Flowing among the rocks the water produced peals of a crystal bell, but this was not my last memory of this place.

In the “Nameless Canyon Morning” image, on the left there is the almost vertical (no exaggeration) canyon wall I climbed in 4.5 hours that morning. It traversed 800 feet altitude in less than a mile. The path was substantially longer because it followed the contour lines of the land in long loops called switchbacks. As I proceeded up the canyon wall, to the southeast, above the opposite canyon wall, the memorable Four Peaks gradually appeared. Here’s the view from my lunchtime perch…..

Four Peaks from Nameless Canyon
Four Peaks from Nameless Canyon

This view looks over the basin of Reavis Creek and includes the, out of sight, 140 foot high Reavis Fall, the highest free fall in Arizona.

Click me for the next episode, “Two Meetings.”

Click me for the previous episode, “Racing the Sun.”

Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

37 thoughts on “A Dry Piece of Paradise”

  2. My goodness, Michael; what adventures photographers have capturing those illusive images to those with less daring!
    I must say, when I read the heading, I thought I was about to see an ‘American’ hedgehog!? My confusion dissipated when the sight of those beautiful flowers came upon the screen.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Don’t know why they are called that, other than the size and spines. Here, we have porcupines, much larger. I came upon one once in the backyard, during acorn season in the fall, it stood upright on two legs and looked like a little man.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Wonderful landscape and fauna… how lucky you are! I am envious. Beautiful captures, too, but in a huge vista like that it can be frustrating how much they leave unseen. But that’s probably just me. 😊

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Pingback: Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 75 – Dutch goes the Photo!

  10. Michael, thank you for this beautiful post – both verbally and pictorially. You say : ” ….to find the thinnest crescent moon imaginable gracing the eastern sky, kept company by a century plant silhouetted against the early dawn light.” Isn’t that poetic? I say so.

    That century old plant is just wonderful against the sky. So still, so calm; one could look for ages.
    The Lavender hedgehog cactui is so beautiful and thanks for the name. I used to have them growing indoors and they flowered. I am thrilled to see them again.
    O.k. I am very taken with that Agave as well…….and the mountains. 😊.
    Miriam

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Pingback: Abstracts: graceful shadows – Michael Stephen Wills Photography
  12. Pingback: Sandfall – Michael Stephen Wills Photography
  13. Pingback: Superstition Adventures Repost 2 – Michael Stephen Wills Photography
  14. Pingback: Two Meetings – Michael Stephen Wills Photography
  15. Pingback: A Peaceful Day at Pine Creek – Michael Stephen Wills Photography
  16. Pingback: Racing the Sun – Michael Stephen Wills Photography
  17. Pingback: Racing the Sun | Mohamad Al Karbi

  19. The century plant in predawn light, lavender blooming hedgehog, and agave photos evoke an abundant and peaceful existence of a desert environment. But your opening paragraph gripped me and told me to pay attention. And I did. I thought I was reading the opening shot of a mystery or thriller novel. Well done.

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.