Photograph by Tom Bean
The Foggiest Idea
Shrouded by layers of fog and clouds, the San Francisco Peaks greet the day’s first light. The Peaks, the remains of an eroded stratovolcano, are topped by 12,633-foot Humphreys Peak, Arizona’s…
Photograph by George Stocking
The Dammed Good Lakes of the Salt River
From time to time, the people of Phoenix realize they’re living in an aquaculture empire. Flocks of blackbirds wheel over canals that lace the city, and the air in certain neighborhoods smells…
Photograph by Jeff Kida
18th Annual Photo Contest Finalists
Photographs by David Zickl
In For A Bumpy Ride
This story starts with falling off a mountain bike, onto wet red clay, in front of a lot of people.  Riders from the Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition have offered to take me out on the first of two…
Photograph by Steven Meckler
Santa Cruz Chili and Spice Co.
Chiles have been a part of Jeanie Neubauer’s life for as long as she can remember: Her father, Gene England, started the Santa Cruz Chili and Spice Co. in 1943. Today, Neubauer runs the family…
Photograph by Nick Berezenko
Take the High Roads
WILDCAT CROSSING Bighorn sheep gather in a grassy meadow along Forest Road 24, part of the route to Wildcat Crossing. | Joel HazeltonWildlife-watching trips are great…
Photograph by John Burcham
The Grandmother of All Ponderosas
I call her the grandmother tree. She lives near the top of Mars Hill in Flagstaff, on a slope well away from established trails. Far bigger than any other ponderosa pine around, she is about 150 feet…
Photograph by Bill Hatcher
Great Big Trees
Standing just outside Saguaro National Park East, Nick Shipley and I take in the pale, jigsaw-puzzle trunks of sycamores towering all around us. Their graceful arms reach for the winter sky,…