A Walk in the Woods

Today we visited the Flagstaff, AZ, Arboretum.

We have spent lots of time over the years in Ponderosa pine forests and it felt good to be in one today. In places we had great views of the San Francisco peaks.

We think this is the Flagstaff Naval Observatory, which is nearby.

We saw Stellar Jays and horny toads, as well as mountain bluebirds and black-capped chickadees. (No photos of the last two.)

This is one of many bird houses attached to trees. Though this one looks broken, there was what appeared to be a fresh nest inside.

We are at 7,000 feet above sea level so the temps are much cooler than what we left in southern Arizona. There was a brisk wind and the temperatures were in the upper 50s. Look how we were dressed, both to walk around and during a stop for lunch.

There were lots of school children exploring the arboretum.

We saw numerous signs and information about the importance of fire and thinning to keep the forest healthy. Here we saw signs of a fairly recent controlled burn to remove smaller trees and encourage growth of native grasses.

There were lots of wild flowers, both those blooming outdoors and others in the greenhouses where they propagate plants to improve the natural vegetation. We also saw numerous sculptures in the gardens. I will save those for later posts.