Oak Creek's West Fork

Light has barely broken in the narrow canyon of the West Fork of Oak Creek as I trudge along the trail. Dew soaks my boots and legs. A breezeless quiet clothes the land. Even the insects hide from the chill morning air. Only an occasional bird reveals its presence. I feel living creatures all around me, but they are hidden. Here on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, the West Fork shelters a huge variety of plants, including dense colonies of horsetails, box elders, walnuts, alders, maples, and Gambel oaks. It is one of the richest riparian habitats in the state.

(LEFT) Green bracken nestles against the trunk of a ponderosa pine.

I walk slowly, taking in the solitude and beauty. It's an intimate canyon.

(ABOVE) A dead tree next to a flourishing maple testifies to the forest's cycle of life.

(BELOW, LEFT) Maidenhair ferns and red monkeyflower somehow find nourishment on a sheer sandstone cliff wall.

(BELOW, RIGHT) Red and yellow monkeyflower brighten a rock outcropping.