Beautiful Fall Color in Ramsey Canyon

WHEN AUTUMN ARRIVES IN SOUTHERN Arizona, I head for the one place where I am certain it will be truly and breathtakingly spectacular: Ramsey Canyon, a cool protected gorge in the Huachuca Mountains. Just walking along beneath the towering sycamores, maples, and pines, I am literally overwhelmed by Nature's palette, rife with ephemeral shades of red, orange, and yellow beneath a dome of vibrant blue sky. Here and on the following pages, I've sought to display only the best of what my camera's eye has seen of fall's radiant diversity in Ramsey Canyon. Enjoy.

(PRECEDING PANEL, PAGE 24) Lavender periwinkles peek through russet and gold bigtooth maple leaves, an artist's autumnal palette after a rainstorm in Ramsey Canyon. (ABOVE) A lushly green yucca contrasts vividly with bigtooth maples along the canyon's Hamburg Trail.

(RIGHT) In the lower canyon, maples climb a hillside. At an elevation of 4,200 to 9,466 feet and with a year-round stream, the canyon is a sanctuary for wildlife as well as lush trees. Visitors come from all over to see the birds, especially the hummingbirds.

A U M N

(PRECEDING PANEL, PAGES 28 AND 29) With the quiet waters of Ramsey Creek as a canvas, freshly fallen maple leaves create an abstract portrait of autumn. (LEFT) A maple's lost leaves seem to mimic one of the many waterfalls that abound in the meandering perennial creek.

(ABOVE) Leaves infused with the legacy of another autumn set against the swirled artistry of an ancient snag on the canyon floor embody the ineffable beauty of Mother Nature's cycle of life. Their departure from the forest in a stunning finale holds the promise of renewal.

(ABOVE) Within the technicolor world of the upper canyon, a rugged outcrop of rock looms above a golden maple flaunting its fall finery amidst a dense stand of pine trees. White-tailed deer, coatimundis, and javelinas roam the forest of this accessible backcountry Shangri-la.

(RIGHT) A velvet ash tree overhangs what looks like crum-bling ruins abandoned by ancient Indians. But the majestic towers are a whimsy of Nature, stacked layers of balsa quartzite embellished with a cloak of lichen. Such wonders and more await in Ramsey Canyon.