Well, maybe one more.

An image from the McCord trail looking across Cave Creek Canyon at the rhyolite outcrops towering along the west side of the canyon.

Still the Yosemite of Arizona

Islands in the Sky: The Chiricahua Mountains

Rising out of the high desert in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona a series of north south trending mountain ranges form the basin and range province of the southwest.  The San Simon Valley straddling the Arizona New Mexico state line lies between the Chiricahua and Peloncillo mountains in the high desert at an elevation of approximately 4000'.  Isolated and remote the 330 square miles of the valley south of interstate 10 boasts only 3 paved roads but some of the most spectacular scenery around.  Throughout the changing seasons and with different light as the sun moves across the sky the views are constantly changing and something new can always be found just by looking up.  Below is a slideshow of the ever changing face of the Chiricahua Mountains as viewed from the San Simon Valley.

Cave Creek Canyon: Then and Now

The next in the series of then and now photographs from Cave Creek Canyon.  The original image is from a post card from the 1940's at Attic Postcards.  The location of this rock formation known as the Rabbit Ears or Mule Ears is on FS42 shortly past the turnoff to South Fork Canyon on the west side of the bridge crossing Cave Creek Canyon (at the fork on this map).  Both photographs were taken in morning and the most striking feature in a comparison is the change in the vegetation.  The early photograph shows dense underbrush and crowded foliage while the photograph taken in 2011 shows a lack of dense underbrush.  It should be noted that the 2011 photograph is a post Horseshoe 2 fire and the area along FS 42 was back burned by fire crews.  Aesthetically, the removal of the low underbrush opens up the forest floor and adds to the scene.