About Me

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I am a birder, naturalist, wildlife biologist, and now an interpretive ranger currently working for Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department at the Hassayampa River Preserve near Wickenburg, Arizona. I spent the past several years following a career as a wildlife biologist and was a teaching assistant for a biology lab during grad school, with my education background consisting of an MS in Biology and BS in Forestry. I am an Arizona native and my past travels have taken me around most of the lower 48 United States, plus the state of Sonora in northwest Mexico. Before my current job I spent 1.5 years working as an environmental consultant in the Midwest based out of Kansas City (KS/MO), which gave me the opportunity to see a good portion of the Great Plains and Midwest region. My current travels are decidedly local, but I am hoping to travel abroad in the future when finances and work schedule allow. I am very content with my current career and happy to be doing a mix of environmental education and natural resource management at a wonderful desert oasis. I am looking forward to where this path takes me!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Humphrey's Peak

On August 3, 2010, I finally made it to the summit of Humphrey's Peak in the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff. Humphrey's Peak is the tallest point in Arizona at 12,643 feet in elevation. I had tried four previous times only to be chased off the mountain by thunderstorms. However, this day the weather was unbelievably perfect (barely a breeze on the summit, warm temperatures, no clouds!). The first few miles of the trail travels up switchbacks through spruce-fir forest and closer to treeline you begin to see more bristlecone pines, which are among the oldest living organisms on the planet. The last 1.5 miles or so of the trail is in rocky alpine tundra, where only small wildflowers grow. Along the way I saw lots of fruiting and flowering plants, including the San Francisco Peaks groundsel (Senecio franciscanus or Packera franciscana), which is endemic to the alpine tundra on the peaks (the only spot in the world this species lives). Typical forest birds along with migrant warblers were seen on the trail and some American Pipits were still on their breeding grounds in the alpine tundra above treeline. The scenery was great from the summit, although some of the views were limited from smoke of some fires to the south of the peaks. An awesome hike!

View of the higher elevations of the peaks from the trailhead at Snowbowl Ski Area:

View of Kendrick Mountain in the distance from Snowbowl:

Views from the Humphrey's Peak trail:

red squirrel:

Nashville Warbler:

red baneberry (Actaea rubra):

twinberry honeysuckle (Lonicera involucrata):

rose crown, or red orpine, or pink stonecrop (Rhodiola rhodantha, formerly Sedum rhodanthum):

pink alumroot (Heuchera rubescens):



Parry's lousewort species (Pedicularis parryi):

gooseberry species (Ribes sp.):


Views from the saddle at the intersection of the Humphrey's Peak and Weatherford Trails:


Old avalanche tallus slope below the trail to the summit:

San Francisco Peaks groundsel, or ragwort (Packera franciscana, formerly Senecio franciscanus):

American Pipit:


The highest point in AZ:



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