AZ wildflowers - only one day to photograph

[john y.k. lee]

Quick Question.

 

I only have one Saturday after a conference - March 12th to go out

hike and photograph. I have never been to this area, but I've heard

such good things about the flowers at this time of year. I have

narrowed down my choice to either Picacho State Park and/or Lost

Dutchman State Park with the Superstition Mountains in the

background.

 

I want to photograph landscapes while hiking. I will have rented a

car. What would you do? Would you try to do both or just focus on

one?

 

Thanks in advance

[a_baldwin]

Conditions are changing daily here in Phoenix. Your best bet is to wait and call the parks the day you want to shoot to get the most current conditions. Picacho Peak- 520-466-3183;Lost Dutchman 480-928-4485. Azstateparks.com also has a " ranger cam" but is not updating that frequently- worth checking though.

 

Right now there is a better show at South Mountain park (at the end of San Juan road) than either PP or LD. Lots of saguaro and green hills for background as well, although not as "classic" as the former two locales.

 

Don't forget the flowers are generally open between 10am-3pm at the latest. I don't think its feasable to do Lost Dutchman and PP in one day. Good luck.

enjoy az.

 

amy

[bill_proud]

John,

 

Check out this site.

 

http://www.desertusa.com/wildflo/az.html

 

PP might be easier to get to from Phoenix.

 

good luck and don't take all the good shots.

[a_baldwin]

John,

 

I forgot to give you south mountain park's number 602-495-0222.

PP is indeed very easy to get to as it's a straight shot on 10 east. However its about 70 miles from central phoenix as opposed to lost dutchman at 35 miles from central phoenix. Both areas are beautiful.

[bill_proud]

A,

 

Sorry if I gave misinformation. I was thinking about the drive on 60 as being kind of stop and go but I might have been on the wrong road from Apache Junction to Phoenix. It's been a couple of years since my last visit.

 

cheers,

[jwarthman]

I agree, best to call around the day or so before you plan to hike & photograph. I visited

Lost Dutchman State Park a week ago, and there were few wildflowers in evidence:

 

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<img src="http://www.pbase.com/image/40523400/medium.jpg"><p><p>

<a href="http://www.pbase.com/image/40523400/original.jpg"> http://

www.pbase.com/image/40523400/original.jpg</a>

</center>

 

Green grass and other plants were everywhere, and it was a gorgeous day for

photography. But it wasn't a wildflower shooting day. As others have said, South Mountain

Park would be a good choice.

 

Best of Luck, and tell us what you end up doing.

 

Enjoy!

 

-- Jim

[lyle_aldridge1]

During a spring of this quality, Picacho Peak is usally a weekend zoo. It's literally right next to Interstate 10, so access is easy and heavy. The trail system is limited, taking on the look of your average ant farm, and the park police cite anyone who might try to achieve a more pleasant composition by stepping off the trails. Can't really blame them, though -- the typical weekend crowd would otherwise trample the whole park into the dirt. And finally, I talked to someone this afternoon who had been there this morning, and said that the Peak had been hit by a hailstorm last night, and the flowers were looking pretty beaten down.

 

If that's what you're looking for, have at. You couldn't get me there on a Saturday on a dare.

[greg_campbell1]

Give these guys a call: http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/index.html They should have up-to-date information on the areas East of Phoenix. The Arboretum itself is excellent for photographing wildflowers. ~1 hour East of the City and WELL worth a visit.

 

The bloom at KOFA wilderness, ~3 hours west, should be well underway since the area is lower and warmer than cnetral Az.

 

-Greg

[gary_anthes]

By all means check those Web sites and call those phone numbers just before you go as conditions change rapidly. I was at Picacho on Sunday. There were nice little patches of flowers here and there (see photo) but nothing overwhelming. Actually, the crowds were overwhelming, as someone else said. It was a real turn-off. The Superstitions area is much bigger and will be much less crowded on a person-per-square-meter basis.<div></div>

[gary_anthes]

P.S. I would have been more accurate had I said, "The Superstition Wilderness, of which Lost Dutchman Sate Park is a part, is much larger than Picacho State Park."

[a_baldwin]

I was at Lost Dutchman this morning and the wildflowers are definitely in bloom, although they are somewhat dispersed. More lupine than anything. One or two patches of poppies and lupine on the cross cut trail are concentrated enough to provide excellent foreground, overall the park is green, beautiful and worth the trip. If you have a full day I would consider trying for Lost Dutchman and South Mountain Park. I would have a hard time choosing between the drama of the superstitions and the lushness of south mountain.

[john y.k. lee]

Thank you everybody for the information. I ultimately chose to go to Lost Dutchman because of practical considerations -- I had less than a full day and arrived at 12:30pm. If I had tried to drive to Picacho, I would have arrived at 1:30-2:00pm.

 

I hiked the Crosscut trail and found the clumps of Mexican golden poppies and the lupines. It was beautiful. I hiked up to the Basin and kept wandering until the golden hour. Then I took some classic shots and kept bumping into other photographers. It was definitely worth the fun.

 

I've sent my slides to Fuji processing and hope to scan them in for everybody's perusal.

 

If I had more time I would have liked to see South Mountain Park as well. In any case, thank you everybody.

[michaelging]

Photo taken near Lake Plesant on friday march 11th<div></div>

[lyle_aldridge1]

John, I'm still following this thread, and waiting to see what you captured. Here in southern Arizona, it looks to me like we're still a week or two from the full show. I've been in the Kitt Peak area three times this spring, most recently yesterday. The poppies keep getting thicker each visit. Lupine is also pretty well up, but the purple owls' clover, AKA "Indian paintbrush," is just beginning to bloom. Here's a shot from yesterday, near San Jacinto on the Tohono O'odham Res'.<div></div>

[lyle_aldridge1]

Sorry, that should say "San Vicente" -- I have no idea how Jacinto leaked out of my fingers. Here's a wider view of the same general area to give an idea what the overall look is like right now. This an area of sheet-flow drainage from the northern flank of Kitt Peak. It's pretty much like this on both sides of Highway 86 from the Pan Tak turnoff to around Pavo Kug, at least. Time hasn't allowed me to venture west of there yet.<div></div>

[john y.k. lee]

I only received one roll of negatives back. I'm still waiting for the slides, but here is one shot in the worst light -- high noon!<div></div>

[lyle_aldridge1]

Nice work, John. Thanks for keeping us updated.

[michaelging]

Wildflower update, This is what is happening to all those beautiful desert wilflowers after not having any rain for a month. Photo was taken on Gila river reservation south west of phoenix on may 5th .It was at this point that the fire dept and I decided to back off a little .<div></div>

[john y.k. lee]

Wow, Mike Ging.

 

Thank you for keeping us up to date. It is amazing what nature and humans can do.

 

Unfortunately, I have been swamped at work and only yesterday reviewed the slides. Nevertheless, thanks for keeping this link alive.

[michaelging]

John, since you are still looking at the thread. I shot this photo 2 weeks ago around a mile from where the fire was shot. I drove past this Saguaro Cactus this morning and it still had blooms on it although not a many as here.<div></div>

[john y.k. lee]

That is beautiful! I have never seen anything like that in person. I need to change venues and move out to the west.