Trip report and species lists - Grand Canyon/Zion trip, May 2004

by Patricia Corry

Photos by David Vandermast, Amanda Senft, Jingyun Fang, Lee Anne Jacobs, Pat Corry, and Sarah Holley

 

     The participants of this informal phytogeographical excursion to the Colorado Plateau were: Dr. Jingyun Fang, a visiting botany professor from Beijing, and UNC-CH plant ecology grad students Lee Anne Jacobs, Amanda Senft, Pat Corry, and Dave Vandermast. Unlike the 2001 PEL Big Bend field trip whose participants acquired colorful appellations such as “Lizard Crusher”, “Freak Daddy”, and “Sex Machine”, most of us did not acquire nicknames during this trip. The exception was Amanda. Early in the trip when she made some sort of minor, reasonable request, Dave started teasing her about being “demanding”. He dubbed her “Demanda”, and the name stuck.

    

Wed. May 5

 

     We flew into Phoenix mid-morning, loaded up our rental van, and headed north on I-17.  Once we got past Phoenix’s sprawling suburbs, we pulled off the highway for a closer look at the Sonoran desert.

 

Stop near MP 225 on I-17, N. of Phoenix

     West-facing slope of rocky volcanic hills, roughly 800-900m elevation. Most spp listed were in bloom, including saguaro and ocotillo.

 

* = exotic sp.

 

Trees:

Yellow paloverde tree (Cercidium microphyllum)

Shrubs:

Creosote (Larrea tridentata)

Brittlebush (Encelia sp.)

Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)

Cacti:

Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea)

Cane cholla (Opuntia spinosior)

Teddybear cholla (Opuntia bigelovii)

Fishhook cactus (Mammillaria microcarpa)

Barrel cactus (Ferocactus wislizenii)

Herbs:

*Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)

 

Fauna: Gambel’s quail, chipmunk (golden-mantled ground squirrel?)

 

Other notes: Fang discovers cactus spines.

 

     We left I-17 and took the scenic route to Flagstaff via Oak Creek Canyon. Wildflowers were abundant in this area, especially the yellow groundsel that we saw throughout the trip.

 

Stop along Hwy 179 ~3 mi. S. of Sedona

     Pinyon-juniper woodland in redrock canyon country near Mogollon Rim, ~1400m elevation.

 

Trees:

Juniper (Juniperus sp)

Shrubs:

Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)

Red barberry (Berberis haematocarpa)

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens)

Cacti:

Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia engelmannii)

Herbs:

Desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea sp., probably ambigua)

Groundsel (Senecio sp)

Eaton’s penstemon (Penstemon eatonii)

Milkvetch (Astragalus sp, probably desperatus)

 

Fauna: lizards

 

Hike up West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon

     This was a nice streamside hike in a redrock canyon of the Mogollon Rim, ~1700m elevation. The canyon bottom had beautiful scattered stands of old-growth Ponderosa pine and carpets of bracken fern and wildflowers. Near the trailhead is an old settlement with many exotic spp.

 

Near trailhead/settlement:

*Tree of heaven (Ailanthus)

*Myrtle (Vinca major)

*Lilac (Syringa)

*Ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus)

 

In canyon:

Trees:

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) (some >1 m diam.)

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii)

Bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum)

Box elder (Acer negundo)

Velvet ash (Fraxinus velutina)

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)

Shrubs & Vines:

Thimbleberry/New Mexican Raspberry (Rubus neomexicanus)

Black chokecherry (Prunus serotina)

Red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)

Wild grape (Vitis arizonica)

Herbs:

Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) (common; dense stands)

Horsetails (2 spp: Equisetum arvense, E. hyemale)

Unk. native bunchgrass

Unk. sedge (Carex sp)

Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

Groundsel (Senecio sp - same sp seen at earlier stop)

Western wallflower (Erysimum capitatum)

Phacelia sp

Violet (white) (Viola canadensis)

False Solomon’s seal (Smilacina racemosa)

Fendler’s meadow rue (Thalictrum fendleri)

Lupine (Lupinus sp.-- palmeri?)

Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus)

Chickweed (Stellaria sp)

Draba (Draba asprella)

Valerian (Valeriana edulis)

 

Fauna: several spp of lizards; Northern flicker, hairy woodpecker, Williamson’s sapsucker, black phoebes feeding near stream, ravens, hummingbirds; bizarre bird call (loud eh-eh-eh-eh, almost like sheep baahing).

 

     In the evening we headed into Flagstaff, checked into the Motel 6, and went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, by popular request (gotta have salsa and cerveza on our first night in the Southwest).

 

 

Thurs. May 6

 

Walnut Canyon National Monument (E. of Flagstaff)

     In the morning we visited Sinaguan cliff dwellings (occupied ca. 1100-1250 A.D.) in a botanically-diverse canyon in pinyon-juniper woodland at ~2040m elevation. The rim of Walnut Canyon is Kaibab Limestone, the same formation that forms the rim of the Grand Canyon; the Toroweap Fm. and Coconino Sandstone are also exposed in Walnut Canyon. The cliff dwellings are tucked back in natural alcoves in the limestone, and you can still see the fire marks on the walls and the Sinaguans’ fingerprints in the mortar.

 

Trees:

Pinyon pine (Pinus edulis)

Juniper: at least 2 spp: alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana) and Utah juniper(?)

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Shrubs:

Fernbush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium)

Mormon tea (Ephedra trifurca)

Fremont barberry (Berberis fremontii)

Buckwheat (Eriogonum sp)

Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)

Wax currant (Ribes cereum)

Snowberry (Symphoricarpos parishii)

Wolfberry (Lycium pallidum)

Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)

Cliffrose (Cowania mexicana var. stansburiana)

Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)

Sagebrush (Artemisia sp-- small shrub, silvery leaves-- not tridentata)

Cacti:

Pricklypear/Grizzly bear cactus (Opuntia erinacea)

Claret cup (Echinocereus triglochidiatus)

Herbs:

Blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis)

several unk. bunchgrasses

*Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)

*Ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus)

Banana yucca (Yucca baccata)

Rockmat (Petrophylum caespitosum)

Wheeler thistle (Cirsium wheeleri)

Groundsel (Senecio sp - same sp seen at Oak Creek Cyn)

Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp-- probably chromosa)

Purple locoweed (Oxytropis lambertii)

Golden draba (Draba aurea)

Fendler’s meadow rue (Thalictrum fendleri)

Bedstraw (Galium sp)

Arizona valerian (Valeriana arizonica)

Fleabane (Erigeron oreophilus)

Penstemon sp (not flowering)

*Horehound (Marrubium vulgare)

*Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)

 

Fauna: Lizards, including an interestingly pigmented species that seems to have a wide geographic range, as we saw it throughout the trip; male hummingbirds (probably rufous) doing aerial displays; violet-green swallows, canyon wrens, ravens, turkey vultures.

 

 

     We drove back into Flag and stocked up on groceries and gas, then headed for the Canyon. We had a nice view of the snow-covered San Francisco Peaks from the north side.

 

South Rim of Grand Canyon

     We arrived mid-day and set up our tents in Mather Campground, then proceeded to Yavapai Point for a look at the Canyon. I was leading the charge to the viewpoint when a huge snake dashed across the trail right under my foot. It wasn’t a rattler but it still startled me because I so nearly stepped on it, which wouldn’t have done the snake any good, and also would have usurped Dane Kuppinger’s reputation as PEL’s chief herp-crusher. It was a bull snake, about 4 ½ - 5 feet long. After admiring the snake awhile, we looked at the Canyon  (first sight of it for Amanda, Fang, and Dave), and people seemed duly impressed.  We had lunch on the Rim and posed for a group photo.

     We spent the rest of the day walking along the Rim. Down below we could see the Bright Angel and Plateau Point trails that we would hike tomorrow. We didn’t do much botanizing, we were just being tourists. We saw California condors on the cliffs below GC Village; amazing flying lizards (call Ken Lohmann’s lab!); and some ancient fauna: brachiopods, clams, crinoids and other Permian fossils in the Kaibab Limestone.

     We were strolling along the Rim near the Bright Angel trailhead when we saw a large cluster of Park Service personnel, some of them in climbing gear. Someone asked what was going on and I said it was probably some sort of evacuation. Every time I’ve been to the Canyon I’ve always seen at least one or two emergency evacuations taking place. Then we saw that they were wheeling a gurney with a body bag. We saw the wheel tracks on the Bright Angel Trail so we knew they had hauled him up the trail. It was a pretty sobering sight. Dave found out the next day that it was a 50-year-old man who died of a heart attack while hiking up the Bright Angel Trail.

    We continued west along the Rim and took the shuttle bus out along West Rim Drive. Got some sunset shots and then headed back.

     The previous night in Flagstaff we’d seen on the news that a prescribed burn at the South Rim near Mather Campground had jumped the lines and was burning out of control. Parts of the Park had been closed and the South Rim was very smoky. However, by the time we arrived at the Canyon the fire was mostly contained, everything was reopened, and the smoke was minimal. That evening as we were returning to the Village area on the shuttlebus, we saw the fire crowning out in what looked like the vicinity of the campground. As concerned murmurs arose from the passengers, the bus driver announced, “My understanding is, that is a controlled burn.”  Dave and I exchanged glances, as in “That fire ain’t under control”, and moments later the fire blew up, with flames shooting high above the canopy. We started wondering if we were going to have tents to return to.

   The blow-up was east (downwind) of the campground. All night we listened to firefighting trucks roaring past (along with a large contingent of Harley hogs that roared past about 1 a.m.-- it was not a restful night).  In the middle of the night the campground filled with smoke. It felt like the cooler air on the Rim was flowing into the Canyon and pulling the smoke over the campground. By daylight the air was relatively clear again.

     Despite the smoke, trucks, and Harleys, it was a beautiful night. There was an almost-full moon, and coyotes were howling.

 

Fri. May 7

 

Hiking the Bright Angel Trail to Plateau Point

     The weather cooperated spectacularly for our hike today-- sunny but not too hot, and not much wind. We had a hearty breakfast at the village, then headed over to the BA Trail.

     We started in pinyon-juniper on the S. Rim at ~2300m elevation and descended 6 miles to Plateau Point at ~1200m elev. No time for structured botanizing but we noted the mesic zone of Douglas fir in the Toroweap Fm. on the north-facing slopes below the rim. Below that, vegetation became increasingly xeric with the decrease in elevation. Pinyon dropped out, then eventually juniper dropped out too.  Partway down in the Supai Fm. Dave posed with some desert vegetation.

     The riparian zone around Indian Garden was a nice shady respite dominated by Fremont cottonwoods (Populus fremontii), with some redbud (Cercis occidentalis), wild grape (Vitis arizonica), Apache plume (Fallugia paradoxa), and misc. riparian spp, including some exotics like blackberry that had been planted in the past. Apparently the cottonwoods were also planted early in the 20^th century-- they’re a native species, transplanted from Cottonwood Creek upriver near Horseshoe Mesa, but were not originally present at Indian Garden.

The Tonto Plateau was dominated by blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima). Amanda had a suspicious fondness for the Utah agave (Agave utahensis). We also saw lots of cacti in bloom on the Tonto Plateau, mostly pricklypear (grizzly bear) cactus (Opuntia erinacea).

     The view of the Colorado River and inner Canyon from Plateau Point was great. After group photos at Plateau Point, we relaxed in the shade at Indian Garden and chatted with other hikers, waiting for shade to fall across the trail before starting back up. Dave bombed back up the trail and consumed many cervezas before Lee Anne, Amanda and I made it out just at dusk. Fang made it out sometime shortly after Dave.

 

Fauna: Several lizard spp, including collared lizards near Indian Garden; Equus mulus; California condors soaring above us; ravens, turkey vultures (hmm, why so many carrion eaters near the BA Trail?); a western tanager in the trees in the Toroweap; heard canyon wrens.

    While the others were looking at the view from Plateau Point, Lee Anne and I were fondling lizards. We saw a lizard drinking out of a large puddle of water beneath a spigot; he was so focused on chugging water that we could pet him and he ignored us. When we left Plateau Point ½ hour later the puddle was completely dried up, so we could see why he was so intent on stocking up while he could.

 

Sat. May 8

 

Short hike on Hermit Trail

      Because we didn’t have much time for botanizing the previous day, we took a leisurely stroll down the Hermit Trail toward Hermit Basin and looked at plants. Started in pinyon-juniper at ~2200m elevation at Hermit’s Rest and dropped down a couple of hundred meters through the Kaibab and Toroweap Fms.

 

Trees:

Pinyon pine (Pinus edulis)

Juniper (Juniperus sp)

Shrubs:

Mormon tea (Ephedra trifurca)

Rabbitbrush (2 spp: Chrysothamnus nausosus and C. viscidiflorus)

Cliffrose (Cowania mexicana var. stansburiana)

Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)

Fremont barberry (Berberis fremontii)

Cacti:

Pricklypear/Grizzly bear cactus (Opuntia erinacea)

Herbs:

unk. bunchgrass (Agrostis?)

*Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)

*Wild barley (Hordeum murinum)

Banana yucca (Yucca baccata)

several Agave spp

Desert phlox (Phlox austromontana)

Indian paintbrush (Castilleja sp, probably chromosa)

Locoweed (Oxytropis sp)

Orange globemallow (Sphaeralcea parvifolia)

Penstemon sp (red flrs-- probably eatoni or barbatus)

Narrowleaf penstemon (Penstemon linarioides)

Golden draba (Draba aurea)

ADYC - hairy golden aster (Heterotheca villosa)??

Fleabane (Erigeron oreophilus)

Rockcress (Arabis perennans)

Cryptantha (white flrs-- Cryptantha jamesii)

*Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)

*Cheeseweed (Malva parviflora)

 

     After the hike we drove east, with stops at the grocery store, the Visitor Center, and Desert View Tower. We passed the still-smoldering “controlled” burn. We arrived at Desert View in late afternoon and had beautiful lighting for what I think is one of the most beautiful views from the South Rim. We continued east out of the Park and then north toward Marble Canyon, arriving in time to walk out on Navajo Bridge in the fading light and look down at the Colorado River about 400 feet below.  We spent a peaceful night at Marble Canyon Lodge.

 

Sun. May 9

 

Cathedral Wash hike, Vermilion Cliffs/Marble Canyon

     In the morning we did this nice little slot canyon hike, 3 miles round trip. The area is sparsely vegetated desert at the base of the Vermilion Cliffs, ~1200m elevation.  Had fun ledge-walking and picking our way around the dry falls. At the mouth of the wash we finally got to see the Colorado River up close and personal. After the initial flurry of picture-taking and feet-soaking, everyone sat by the river and sank into that peaceful river-music stupor the Colorado always seems to induce. Just before we left we got to watch a couple of Hatch motor rigs go through the small riffle at the mouth of the wash.

 

Along road to Lees Ferry and in upper-mid Cathedral Wash:

Prince’s plume (Stanleya pinnata) - abundant along roadsides

Orange globemallow (Sphaeralcea sp) - abundant along roadsides

Desert trumpet (Eriogonum inflatum)

Phacelia sp

Dogweed (Dyssodia pentachaeta)

 

In lower Cathedral Wash (near river):

Brickellbush (Brickellia sp)

*Tamarisk (Tamarisk ramosissima)

Tufted evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa)

 

Fauna:  Canyon wrens; violet-green swallows flying around the wash walls and rims; a baby bat lying on the floor of the wash (fell out of roost?)

 

     After the hike we drove to Lees Ferry and had lunch on the beach at Paria Riffle. Amanda said, “You mean you made us walk all that way to the river when we could just drive here??”

     The Paria was running clearer than I’d ever seen it-- guess it hadn’t rained there in a long time. We took a quick spin past the boat ramp at Lees Ferry and I pointed out the riparian restoration project, where they bulldozed out 10 acres of tamarisk and planted native cottonwoods and willows. From Lees Ferry we headed west and up to the high-elevation pine forests of the Kaibab Plateau, where we set up camp at Jacob Lake.

 

North Kaibab National Forest and North Rim at Crazy Jug Point

     Ponderosa pine forest at ~2450m elevation.

     Paul Callaway, forester on the North Kaibab Ranger District, had offered to take us on a forest tour, which was really nice of him since this was his day off. He met us at the Jacob Lake campground along with his parents and his friend John. Paul showed us areas of nice old-growth Ponderosa pine, and a 2-yr-old burn. The burn was a good illustration of how patchy fires can be: some areas had just had a ground fire, in other areas the fire crowned out, and yet other patches were unburned.

     Paul talked about how the North Kaibab N.F. manages the forest using guidelines developed to protect the northern goshawk, which is sort of a keystone species. Overall they manage for multi-age forests, so they don’t do a lot of big clearcuts, seed-tree cuts or other types of even-age management that were used in the past. Although the Kaibab Plateau is surrounded by desert, the plateau is high enough to catch significant precipitation, especially snow in winter, so Paul says the trees actually have fairly high growth rates. This area is ~330m higher than the South Rim and is obviously much more mesic.

     Paul showed us several big sinkholes, where solution breccias occur in the Kaibab limestone. One was really strange, with a moat-like ring of water near the perimeter of the sinkhole floor. It looked man-made but it’s a natural feature. 

     Paul’s mom took a group photo at an historic cabin that John is restoring.

     We went out to Crazy Jug Point for a sunset barbecue on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was a great view down onto the Esplanade, which was glowing orange in the setting sun. We could see the major canyon of Tapeats Creek and beyond it, Powell Plateau. Paul’s friend Matt had gone out ahead of us to snag a good overlook and set up the grill. We had a great barbecue with good company while watching a beautiful sunset.    

    The forest we toured was predominantly Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) with some Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and true firs, and stands of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). At Crazy Jug Point we saw some of the spp we’d seen at the South Rim, such as Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii). In addition to other wildflowers we’d been seeing throughout the trip, we saw a lot of larkspur (Delphinium sp) in bloom. We also were lucky to see several Kaibab squirrels, easily recognizable by their big ear tufts.

     We got a flat during the forest tour, thereby fulfilling a long-standing PEL tradition that every field trip must experience at least one flat tire or stuck vehicle, preferably in a remote location.

 

Mon. May 10

 

Zion National Park

     We drove down off the Kaibab Plateau to the west and headed for Zion. Everyone was suitably awed by the immense sandstone walls as we drove in through the east entrance and the long tunnel down into Zion Canyon.

     After setting up in Watchman Campground, we walked over to the native plant greenhouse where Cheryl Decker, Zion’s restoration botanist/horticulturist, gave us a tour and told us about their restoration program. They have set up a good program on a typical shoestring budget, raising native plants to restore areas that have been trampled by visitors or where the park has eradicated weeds such as cheatgrass. Then Denise Louie, the park botanist, told us about research opportunities at the park and answered our botanical questions.

     In the late afternoon we took the shuttlebus up Zion Canyon to the Riverside Trail up the Virgin River. We’d hoped to walk a ways up the Zion Narrows, but it was spring runoff and the water was icy. We saw people coming downstream wearing full wetsuits. Only Dave ventured a short distance upstream in his Tevas. I made it an even shorter distance upriver and my feet were frozen just from that. Being in the Southeast a few years made me forget how cold spring runoff can be.

    The Riverside trail took us along a riparian zone past hanging gardens on the walls of the narrow canyon, at ~1450m elevation. 

 

Hanging gardens:

Maidenhair fern (Adiantum cappilus-veneris)

Golden columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha)

Western columbine (Aquilegia formosa)

Monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis)

Oregon grape (Mahonia repens)

Zion shooting star (Dodecatheon pulchellum)

 

Tues. May 11

 

Hike to Observation Point, Zion National Park

     I’d originally hoped to take everyone up Angel’s Landing, which I’d done several times before and enjoyed, but then Cheryl told us the Observation Point trail was really beautiful. The group discussed the two options and everyone chose Observation Point. (Possibly there’d be enough time to do both trails but we tend to move slowly when botanizing.) That turned out to be the right choice for a number of reasons, not least that the scenery and botany were a lot more interesting and diverse than on the Angel’s Landing trail.

     We started on the valley floor at ~1450m elevation, climbed up a sandstone slope, through a sandstone narrows, and then an upper sandstone slope to the canyon’s east rim at 2170m elevation. On top of the rims is a fairly lush, diverse chaparral community with scattered Ponderosa pine, pinyons and junipers.

     This was a beautiful hike with a great wildflower show. We had good weather again-- clear and not too hot. The view from Observation Point was fantastic, and the trail was not as crowded as many of the shorter trails in the Zion Canyon area. 

 

Observation Point trail

 

On the sandstone slopes:

Trees:

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)

Pinyon pine (Pinus edulis)

Juniper (Juniperus sp)

Shrubs:

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula)

Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus intricatus)

Fremont barberry (Berberis fremontii)

Cacti:

Pricklypear (Opuntia aurea)

Herbs:

Indian paintbrush (Castilleja chromosa, C. scabrida)

Sand verbena (Abronia fragrans)

Sego lily (Calochortus nuttallii)

Tufted evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa)

Nuttall’s gilia (Linanthastrum nuttallii) -- many beautiful white clumps along trail

Scarlet gilia Gilia aggregate)

unk. thistle (not flowering)

Rockmat (Petrophylum caespitosum)

Lotus (Lotus plebeius)

Penstemon (red flrs) (Penstemon eatonii)

Smooth penstemon (blue/purple flrs) (Penstemon laevis)

Penstemon (blue/purple flrs) (Penstemon strictus?)

Yellow cryptanth (Cryptantha flava)

Desert phlox (Phlox austromontana)

Milkvetch (Astragalus sp)

Blue dicks (Dichelostemma pulchella)(photo: with spider)

Western spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis)

Stoneseed (Lithospermum multiflorum)

Western wallflower (Erysimum capitatum)

Groundsel (Senecio sp - same sp seen elsewhere on trip)

 

On the rim, in chaparral:

Trees:

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)

Pinyon pine (Pinus edulis)

Juniper (Juniperus sp)

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)

Shrubs:

Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula)

Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus intricatus)

Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)

Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)

Cliffrose (Cowania mexicana var. stansburiana)

Herbs:

Many of spp listed above

Lupine (Lupinus sp)

 

Fauna: Lizards; canyon wrens (heard), rock wren, some type of flycatcher, ravens showing off at Observation Point.

 

     Uber-hiker Dave made the 8-mile round trip in sufficient time to head over to the Angel’s Landing trail. He told us later that he made it to the top of the switchbacks (Walter’s Wiggles), but he and a bunch of other hikers decided they didn’t like the last, steep ½ mile, the part with the chains; Dave says there was “a mass chickening-out”. He agreed the scenery and wildflower show were better on the Observation Point trail.

     After the rest of us descended from Observation Point, Fang headed to the Human History Museum. Lee Anne, Amanda and I decided to do the girly thing and go for a horseback ride, but when we got to the stables, the last ride for the day had just left. The wrangler told us we could ride the next day, but I said we’d be heading back to Phoenix. The wrangler was into acting the part of crusty cowboy; he started drawling something about watching out for the sheriff in Phoenix. He said he (the wrangler) was a good judge of character and we looked like the types who might get in trouble with the law-- not a bad assessment, given some of the personal histories that came out the next day when we were playing Truth or Dare during the long drive to Phoenix.

     Our campsite at Zion was quite peaceful in the evenings. After dinner we hung out at the picnic table telling stories. Fang wrote our names for us in Chinese.

 

Wed. May 12

 

     We broke camp and headed out, stopping for breakfast in Springdale. Ah yes, it was southern Utah, the other Dixie. A sign in the restaurant warned people they’d be kicked out for swearing.

 

Drive from Zion to Phoenix. Stop along I-15 below Virgin River Canyon.

     As we drove down off the Colorado Plateau into the Mojave Desert, we made a brief botanizing stop at roughly 600m elevation. We posed with a particularly photogenic Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), and admired some Giant Four o’clock (Mirabilis multiflora). The ubiquitous exotics cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and filaree (Erodium cicutarium) were also present, as well as creosote (Larrea tridentata) and other desert shrubs.

 

Valley of Fire

     We detoured off I-15 to check out this state park with beautiful fiery-red Triassic sandstone formations at ~580m elevation. We checked out the Indian petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock, and Triassic-age petrified logs. Our visit was brief and we didn’t keep a spp list but noticed the following spp:

 

Mesquite (Prosopis sp)

Creosote (Larrea tridentata)

Wolfberry (Lycium andersonii)

other desert shrubs

 

Fauna: a horned toad near the petrified logs.

 

Sin City

     To my mind Las Vegas looks best in the rear-view mirror, but most of our group had never seen it, so we agreed to have lunch there. We drove through downtown and the strip and went into Caesar’s Palace for lunch. The main differences since the last time I was there decades ago are the vastly improved air systems to remove cigarette smoke, and the cocktail waitresses no longer have to wear their hair up in those ponytails with the big gold bands, although they still wear the little white togas. Fang had his picture taken with the blackjack dealers.   Lee Anne and Amanda learned how gambling works: insert money in machine, pull lever, watch money disappear; repeat indefinitely. Except they learned fast and only lost about $0.50 each before becoming bored. We took a picture of them playing the slots, which should be a hit with Bob Peet, our advisor, who thinks every waking moment of a field trip should be spent botanizing, preferably in a tick-infested swamp or greenbrier thicket. (Bob will be pleased to know this was a hack-free trip, but only because everyone forgot to do it.)

 

Leaving Las Vegas

     We left Sin City behind and promptly got lost in the burgeoning, unsustainable, sprawling suburbs. Where are they getting the water???!!  was our perpetual cry as we observed Phoenix, Sedona, St. George, Las Vegas...

     We crossed Boulder Dam (a/k/a Hoover Dam, but Hoover’s never been popular-- the old name still persists). Lake Mead had a pretty large bathtub ring due to the ongoing drought. There was a security checkpoint before crossing the dam, but apparently the guy didn’t get a good look at Dave and he waved us on through.

     Not long after crossing into Arizona, we started seeing more elements of Sonoran desert again (saguaro, paloverde trees), but Mojave desert spp persisted for quite a distance-- NW Arizona seems like an ecotone between Sonoran and Mojave deserts. On this stretch we drove through an unusually dense “forest” of Joshua trees. We also saw lots of sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) and occasional barrel cacti (Ferocactus sp) alongside the road.

     We started the trip with Mexican food so we had to end it the same way. At a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix we met up with Amanda’s sister and brother-in-law, who coincidentally were also vacationing in Arizona, and all had a good time talking about our travels.  The next morning we caught our plane back to RDU and the humid, green East.

 

A few trip themes and quotes

 

In response to various, seemingly inexplicable natural phenomena: “Why would God do that?”  (Stock answer: He’s testing you, Dave.)

“Where’s Fang?”

Where are they getting the water???!!

Amanda, perplexed by a plant i.d.: “Plants need bar codes.”

Amanda’s first impression of a Las Vegas casino: “But there’s no windows in here.”