basalt – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Nature Abstracts from Reavis Falls

Basalt and Water

May 22, 2023May 21, 2023 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

A Series of Nature Abstracts, macros of Reavis Falls

These are six shots of Reavis Falls from my solo expedition to this location in the remote eastern Superstition Wilderness of Arizona.

All are macro shots of the falls taken with a Canon 100mm f/2.8L lens.

I took these while perched on a pile of talus beneath the falls.

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Reavis Falls are 114 feet high in a canyon hidden in the folds of mountain ridges in the remote eastern Superstition Wilderness of Arizona.

Reavis Creek falls from a sheer basalt cliff, remnants of a volcanic eruption, cool a million years ago, a little colder today by this running water.

Click Me to visit my previous post, “Canyoneering to Reavis Falls” for more of this story.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Evening and Morning

Boulder Canyon Camp

September 5, 2022September 6, 2022 MichaelStephenWills

Our camp for the first night was East Boulder Canyon, between Black Top Mesa and Palamino mountain. On the topographic map, below. the bright orange line is Dutchman Trail. We are at the lower center, at the foot of the “Z” in trail, a switchback over Black Top Mesa pass we’ll traverse the next day.

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A topographic map including Yellow Peak with Dutchman Trail in orange. Upper Black Top Mesa Pass lower center.

The map locates Yellow Peak, where the four Utah treasure hunters lost their lives Summer 2010, at the upper center next to Black Mesa Trail. The peak is framed by Black Top Mesa and Palamino Mountain in views to the northwest from Boulder Canyon, as you will see in a later posting.

Our evening was a quiet one of camp chores, an enjoyable meal with homemade beef jerky, coffee and plenty of water to rehydrate. The horses chomped on grain from feed bags. They packed in the grain as grazing is not allowed in the wilderness. I gave each a treat of carrot and apple.

I was up well before dawn to capture the morning constellations over Weavers Needle: from the left, I believe I recognize Lyra with Vega accompanied by Epsilon Lyra, next the keystone of Hercules. The brightest object is Venus.

Taking a break from morning water gathering in East Boulder Canyon: saguaro cactuses reflected in a still pool, looking up to the northwest you can just about see the Peralta trail where it crosses a Palamino Mountain ridge. West/Northwest the Peralta trail crosses behind the same ridge.

References:

Click me for the source of topographic map.

Gold Dust Found

Desert Riches

August 24, 2022August 24, 2022 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

A few minutes after photographing the Stressed Mesquite I looked across the creek to the slope of volcanic rock fallen from the cliff of Black Top Mesa where clumps of dark yellow mark clusters of flowering Mexican Poppies.

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Plentiful winter rains trigged a profusion of Mexican Poppies throughout the Superstition Wilderness. Here is a photograph captured after our expedition.

Look carefully for a scattering of color, like gold dust, at the foot of the volcanic cliffs. That is spring blooms of Mexican Poppy (Eschscholtzia californica). This gold wonder is plentiful from the month of late February through April, varying with the rains.

Stressed Mesquite

Superstition Wilderness

August 23, 2022August 21, 2022 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

Mesquite, of the genus Prosopis, is a widespread, successful desert shrub that sometimes grows into tree form, as you see here. A mesquite tap root can extend 190 feet down to draw on the water table.

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East Boulder Creek was flowing, in this season, a few feet away. Still, this mesquite is stressed, with a loss of over half of its bark. The ever-present Prickly Pear is in the middle distance. I prefer the image with the distant Weavers Needle, a neck of eroded volcanic rock, is brightened by the setting sun. To the left, the light-colored rock of Black Top Mesa is also of volcanic origin.

I am here on the Dutchman Trail between Black Top Mesa and Palamino Mountain, Superstition Wilderness, Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Here is a gallery of post images, making comparison easier. All were taken with a handheld Sony F828. Walking without a pack make it possible for me to wear the camera.

Two Bar Mountain from trail 122 with corral made from mesquite trunks and barbed wire. Yucca and prickly pear in foreground.

References:

Black Top Mesa

Superstition Wilderness

August 22, 2022August 21, 2022 MichaelStephenWills

The black basalt of the mesa, for which it is named, is just visible above the lighter colored alternating layers of ash and tuff all remnants of volcanic eruptions 15 to 29 million years ago. We are on the Dutchman trail with the slopes of Palamino Mountain on the right. Ahead, other members of the expedition are just visible.

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In this view the late afternoon shadow of Palamino Mountain reveals the defile to which we are headed. Poles of young Saguaro Cactus (Carnegiea gigantean), poke from the black basalt capping Black Top Mesa. Foreground left is Stag Horn Cholla (Cylindropuntia), on the right is Prickly Pear (Optuna).

Look carefully for a scattering of color, like gold dust, at the foot of the volcanic cliffs. That is spring blooms of Mexican Poppy (Eschscholtzia californica).