Yesterday we decided to walk the newest trail, Dynamite, that opened at San Tan Mountain Park earlier this week. It is on the north side of the park and was my first venture on any of the trails on that side. I excitedly anticipated what we might encounter on our walk on this new trail in an unfamiliar area!Tuesday we received a wonderful, slow, soaking rain that refreshed all the flora and fauna of our desert environment. I was hoping that the rain would entice the wild flower to bloom in all their glory!
Imagine my delight when we came upon this stand of Mexican Poppies blanketing a hillside! I wish we could have duplicated what our eyes were seeing, but that is impossible with the camera we had (or possibly with any camera available on today's market). I was so excited to continue our walk and see what other wild flowers we would find.
If you look closely, you will see a few Desert Lupine, along with one other tiny yellow flower in the lower right corner of this photo. Now we had Lupine in Michigan -- huge, glorious stands of Lupine beloved by the Blue Karner Butterfly. This plant is a miniature version of the Michigan Lupine plants. However, I am sure that they provide nectar in sufficient quantities for our Arizona butterflies. I noticed many that were not yet blooming, so I am anxious to walk the Dynamite Trail in the near future and see more blooming.
You can see from this picture how rocky and hostile a desert environment can be. However, it is so comforting to know that even in this place God designed flowers that would brighten their surroundings, insignificant though they may be. A large component of that design is the lack of moisture in the desert. These wild flowers must be small to make efficient use of the limited moisture that falls in the desert. Their roots only go down a couple of inches in order to take advantage of the moisture that is available.
I'll close this blog with a distant vista. When we started our walk we were very close to the same altitude as the city of Queen Creek that you see off in the distance. Yet our walk took us to heights that allowed us to enjoy this view.I never cease to marvel at the desert views we see on our forays around our area. It still amazes me to be able to see for miles in the distance after living most of my life surrounded by trees and fairly flat topography. I hope that I will never take living here for granted but will always have a sense of wonder at the desert surroundings and the beauty to be found there.
