spring desert trip

[derek regensburger]

I'm going to be in Death Valley March 16-17 and the Phoenix area March 18-21 in the hopes of shooting wildflowers. Suggestions for good areas to spot wildflowers in either place? Also, if anyone is interested in joining me for either part of the trip, please send me an email.

[Gem Singer]

Hi Derek,

When I lived in Tucson and Phoenix, there was a spectacular annual bloom of wild poppies at Pichaco Peak, about forty miles north of Tucson, on the highway heading toward Phoenix. However, I'm not sure they will be in bloom on March 18-21. Check with Arizona Highways Magazine.

[Jim Ewins]

The March 2002 issue of New Mexico Magazine, noted locations; Florida Mtns near Deming, Carrizozo, Oliver Lee Mem SP near Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Bandilier and others. www.nmmagazine.com Good Hunting, Jim

[Don Cameron]

Derek

You should check with The National Park news on the web, as Death Valley is a mess right now.

They had some heavy flooding in September, and a lot of the roads are closed.

Hwy 190 is closed from Furnace Creek to Death Valley Junction, and not planned to be open before March/April so you can't get to Zabrenskie (sp) Point.

Same with Titus Canyon, and The road up to Death Valley Scotties. I was out there just after Christmas, I'm sure they just got a lot more rain in the last week or so!

Don (www.doncameron.com)

[Bruce Watson]

I was going to DVNP in a couple of weeks. A call to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center ended that plan. Twelve to one, 190 between Furnace Creek and Death Vally Junction will still be closed when you are planning to go. Basically, the whole southern half of the valley is closed. No Dante's view. No Zabriskie point. No Artists Drive. The rest of the park is having problems because of snow at the mountain passes. You can't get to the race track area, or Charcole Kilns.

As Don says, DVNP is a mess right now, and it's likely to stay a mess for months.

I cancelled my trip there in favor of southern AZ instead. Of course, YMMV.

Now, southern AZ is interesting. There's Organ Pipe Cactus Nat. Monument which is, well, strange, but in a cool way. There's Suguaro National Park. Coronado National Forest. And Tucson has the Center for Creative Photography where Ansel Adams' (and a bunch of other fine photographers) negatives are:


http://www.library.arizona.edu/branches/ccp/collection/collection.html (http://www.library.arizona.edu/branches/ccp/collection/collection.html)