Wednesday, 16 March 2011

Catalinas traverse South to North: Part 2

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Marielle and Ponderosas. Mariellerosa.

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Trails left by bark beetle larvae.

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Marielle and crew created a sweet tripod stand to hang the pot and boil water. It was a cool idea, although it was a bit problematic that the structure was burning while the water heated.

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Aah, the versatile tarp! This reflected heat from the fire, keeping us warm through the night (except when nobody bothered to feed the fire).

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The drainage over the hill from Wilderness of Rock, leading to Marshall Gulch. The character changed to slimmer trees and many downed.

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The hobbit house, come on in for noonsies!

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Reef Rock, looks really fun to hike around and great climbing! Beyond the rocky ridge is a benign looking ridge, Samaniego Ridge. You wouldn’t know that the other side boasts several hundred foot cliffs. I never thought you could hike that ridge until seeing it from this side. It will make another sweet traverse for a future trip from Biosphere 2 to Tucson.

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This was really neat. This whole forest was burned, and at the base of each tree is a young leatherleaf oak. Looks like all of the trees are growing back from their bases, a great fire strategy and a way to ensure the dominance of one species.

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Oracle Ridge

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Why is this old burned trunk all white?

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It’s entirely covered in a species of white lichen! Maybe the whiteness helps it deal with a very sun-exposed, hot location like in a burn area. I’ve never seen anything like this.

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There were some massive trees here at some point in the past! We think these might have been huge Junipers.

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Savanna country.

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The End.

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