Archive All Issues September 1953

JOURNEY TO AUTUMN

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A COLOR PORTFOLIO SHOWING FALL DRESS IN HIGH AND LOW COUNTRY.

Featured in the September 1953 Issue of Arizona Highways

JOURNEY THO AUTUMNN

The timetable for one planning a journey to autumn, that season of shimmering gold on mountainside and along lazy creek bed when good Mother Nature stages one of her most attractive color pageants, depends, of course, on the weather. Green living things are reluctant to give up their summer raiment and they do not do so until the first hard, sharp bite of frost tells of winter's approach. Jack Frost is a fellow of fitful temper and travels a variable road, but he is the boy who swings the sorcerer's wand and has the touch of magic that changes a world of green into one of shining gold.

Last year summer lingered; so that autumn came two weeks late and camped in the land longer than usual. If winter comes very early this year, and some years it does, autumn's arrival and departure will be hurried and one may miss the gold in a journey to the golden season. But when one must plan in advance, the only safe thing to do is to average the seasons over a number of years and arrive at a fairly accurate date for that cherished rendezvous when the land is ablaze with color at the time the greens of summer are giving way to winter's whiteness. We will start out, then, so that we will be in the high mountains, 6,500 feet or higher, during the first week of October. A journey to autumn and October is full of surprises.

DATA FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER

"AUTUMN CONTRASTS" BY CHUCK ABBOTT. The Swift Trail, of which this is a part, winds for twenty miles along the crest of the Graham Mountains in Graham County; through primeval stands of Douglas fir, largest tree of the western timberlands; through aspen patches, scar tissue of old burns. Here, at the 8000 foot elevation, twin firs loom darkly over the trail and aspens hold the sunlight in suspension from their branches. Location: Swift Trail near Heliograph Peak. About 10 a.m. in mid-October. 5x7 Deardorff View Camera, Goerz Dogmar lens f.22, 1½ second.

"MOUNTAIN AUTUMN" BY HERB MCLAUGHLIN. This photograph was made at Big Lake in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. The first chill of winter had cast a golden touch to the landscape. 8x10 Ansco View Camera, 12" Eastman Commercial Ektar lens, 8x10 Ektachrome film exposed at f.4.5 for a full second. This photograph was taken October 20, 1952. Because of unusually mild weather last year, autumn's color show was two weeks late.

"STREAK OF GOLD" BY HARRY VROMAN. This lovely spread of fall color was found near a farm land valley west of San Francisco Peaks in late October. Further up on the Peaks, near Sno Bowl, the leaves of the aspen were gone, but color remained in sheltered places. The Arizona form of aspen, or quaking aspen, is sometimes called the Golden aspen because of its intense autumnal coloration. This tree is found throughout most of Arizona at elevations from 6500 to 9000 feet. 4x5 Speed Graphic, exposure on Ektachrome through Wratten No. 1 filter Weston meter reading f.29 at 1/5th second.

"RUSTLING CARPET" BY CHUCK ABBOTT. Finding a grove of Gambel oak in Arizona is a memorable experience. The trees grow in elevations from 5000 to 8000 feet, seeking forest hollows with a northerly exposure. Here the sunlight is impaled on their twigs and piled on the ground. Where else can you walk through sunbeams that rustle with sound and smell of a fragrance long forgotten? Location: Ski trail above Summerhaven on Mt. Lemmon in the Catalinas near Tucson. Noon in mid-October. 5x7 Deardorff View Camera, Ektachrome film. Goerz Dagor lens, f.22, 1/5th second.

"DESERT POOL" BY ESTHER HENDERSON. These willows, overhanging a desert pool, have felt the first touch of frost which comes to the desert elevations about the end of November. When the fall winds sweep down off the mountains, these leaves, like yellow feathers held so lightly in the embrace of dark branches, will flutter away, signaling the arrival of winter. The Goodding Willow, shown here, is found along streams and watercourses throughout most of the state up to 7000 feet. Location: Lower Sabino Canyon, Tucson. 9 a. m. in late November. 5x7 Deardorff View Camera, Ektachrome film, Goerz Dagor lens, f.14, 1/5th second.

"HILL OF GOLD" BY HERB McLAUGHLIN. This photograph was made near a small reservoir north of Big Lake in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona last October 20. The small knoll covered with aspen in autumnal color, between the blue lake and blue sky, looked like a hill of gold. 4x5 Speed Graphic Camera on tripod, Ektachrome exposed at f.13 at 1/25th second.

"AUTUMN IN THE LAND" BY HERBERT A. LOWMAN. Photograph was taken at Arizona Sno Bowl near Flagstaff in early October. Some of the aspen had taken on fall color while others showed no effects of the early frost. 4x5 Ektachrome film, daylight type, Brand 17 View Camera with tripod, f.20 at 1/10th second, no filter.

"AUTUMN-DESERT CANYON" BY CHUCK ABBOTT. During the heat of summer this leaning cottonwood overhung a desert pool casting welcome shade over stream-waders. By fall, the stream had narrowed to a cold trickle; the tree, glowing reminder of summer's pleasant picnic spot, waves good-bye to the happy screeches of its summer guests who, somewhat less than happy, now sit in classrooms dreaming of golden leaves. Location: Sabino Canyon near Tucson. 10 a.m. in late November. 5x7 Deardorff View Camera, Ektachrome film, Goerz Dagor lens, f.18, 1/5th second.

OPPOSITE PAGE "DESERT FALL" BY CHUCK ABBOTT. Cottonwoods, sycamores and willows, weaving their way out of desert canyons, trace a glowing trail of autumn through the gray-green shrubs and cacti. Whoever said, "The desert knows no season," was barking up the wrong canyon-or the wrong desert! Arizona desert canyons greet both spring and fall with abundant color. Location: Entrance to Sabino Canyon near Tucson. 10 a.m. in late November. 5x7 Deardorff View Camera, Ektachrome, Goerz Dagor lens, f.29, 1/5th sec.Ah! October! Enchanted October! Month of crisp nights and balmy days! A perfect place to greet the month would be in Cedar Breaks National Monument in southern Utah. In this land of color the most colorful sight of all the first week of October is the sweeping mass of aspen busting out in bright new gold and the blotches of red here and there that tell of maples feeling the touch of the season. The first ten days of the month will see the aspen in full color on the Kaibab, north of Grand Canyon; high up on San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff; and in the White Mountains. A golden journey in ten days!

In the mountain ranges in southern Arizona the second and third weeks of October are normally best for autumn color. Throughout these areas, from 6500 to 9000 feet, the aspen are featured in autumn's show. Rocky mountain maple, less numerous than aspen, is found from Coconino County south to Pima and Cochise Counties. Gambel oak, a white oak usually growing in thickets from 5000 to 8000 feet, is colorful. As colorful as any tree, though, are the sycamores and Fremont cottonwoods found along water courses throughout the state from 2000 to 6000 feet. Autumn is later in lower elevations, with these trees turning from early November to mid-December, depending on the elevation.

The last week in October and the first week in November should find Oak Creek Canyon dressed in its brightest autumnal dress, and at this time of the year, incidentally, this delightful place is at its best. The autumn parade will be about over in the mountains above, but down in the canyon the willows, sycamores and cottonwoods will be turning, while the maples on the rim and canyon walls will be red flames bright against the multihued stone.

So one's journey to autumn can be a long and happy one. For six weeks or so you can wander all about the land and there is autumn at the next turn of the road. You will start high up on the mountains and end far down on the floors of deep canyons like Zion, or Supai, or Sabino whose high protecting walls hold back the approach of winter. Autumn is a magical and colorful season in this, the enchanted and blessed, land... R. C.