A Thick Grove Of Cane Chollas With Buds Frame The View Of The Red Cliffs Located Near Sedona

Sedona, Arizona is a small town with a population of only about 10,000 people, but it lies in heart of some very beautiful red sandstone cliffs, for which has become a very popular tourist destination. Most visitors come to Sedona for one of four things: the outdoor activities such as hiking through the rocks, the local fare served at various restaurants, the pampering in the famous spas, or to seek spiritual enlightenment in the New Age district. But all visitors come to see the beauty of the landscape surrounding the town. And this beauty makes for a great photographic destination. As such, The Wild Images Team has visited Sedona on multiple occasions, mainly for the outdoor activities and photography, but we have also taken the time to try out a couple of restaurants in town. Sedona sits about half way between Phoenix at an elevation of 1000 feet in the Valley of the Sun and northward to Flagstaff at an elevation of 7000 feet on the Colorado Plateau. The land continuously slopes upward for the 100 miles between the two cities. Sedona sits along the slope at an altitude of 4200 feet. This altitude is above the range of the Sonoran Desert saguaro cacti which favor the warmer locations of the Valley of the Sun and southward into Mexico. But other cacti do grow at higher altitudes and have more northerly ranges. The cane cholla, also known as the walking stick cholla, is found in hot places such as the Valley of the Sun, but are also found in the cooler climate around Sedona. In the spring cane cholla begin to form their flower buds. While the eventual flowers that bloom will be brilliant reds and magentas, before they bloom their buds are a striking color of yellow. So The Wild Images Team captured the above image in the month of April, just before the flowers bloomed but as the buds were fully grown. Here the photo is composed of many hues including the pink spiny arms of the cane chollas, the bright yellow buds, the green desert shrubbery in the background, the deep red cliffs towering above, topped by a bright blue sky streaked by white clouds. What an amazing desert palette! The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Arizona, such as the colorful storm buildup in the painted desert, the stark view of an incredibly tall monsoon cloud over desert, the sky covering massive anvil cloud over the mountains, the isolation in the curtains of rain over the Navajo Nation, the deep red lightning scene in the Mazatzals, the moment Zeus throws a bolt over Cave Creek, the network of colorful bolts over the Sedona ridges, the rainfall created colorful dry wash in bloom, the dangerous stripe-tailed scorpion climbing plants, the deep desert late night glowing bark scorpions, the dynamic image of a honeybee on an exotic wildflower, the view of a hummingbird among the thick wildflowers, a lucky shot of a great horned owl roosting in mesquite tree, the evening view of an organ pipe cactus, the serene scene of ocotillos and saguaro cacti, the view from Bell Rock of scrub brush and phenomenally colorful cliffs, this precarious Wupatki box canyon dwelling, a look up at the very majestic Wukoki Pueblo ruins, a chance encounter with a thunderstorm through a Wukoki Pueblo window, and the spiny sharp glass sculpture with cacti, each of which are available for sale in our store. Our blog posts from Arizona have documented the close up of a large stripe-tailed scorpion, the animated behavior of a great horned owl, the nearly daily encounters with the multitude of rattlesnakes, the mysterious darkness created by a very prominent Alexander’s Band between two brilliant rainbows, the crazy late sunset when red rain fell over the Mazatzal Mountains, monsoon season forming rain curtains hanging in front of the sunset, the sunset moment when delicate rain curtains fell in front of a darkening sky, spring rainfall creating a colorful desert bloom in a dry wash, the dynamic view of a honeybee equipped with dual pollen baskets among the blooms, the red sunlit clouds with a rainbow over the foothills of Black Mountain, the massive spectacle of a giant spiderweb of lightning over Black Mountain, near Sedona where red cliffs are framed by cane chollas, the reddish glow of sunset lighting an organ pipe cactus, the precarious location of the cliff edge Box Canyon ruins, the strategic location of the majestic Montezuma Castle Sinagua dwellings, The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina at a scenic Grand Canyon overlook, The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina in front of the Wupatki Pueblo, The Wild Images Team Coordinator Christina at the Pima Air & Space Museum, Tombstone and the Original Bird Cage Theatre history, its interior eponymic Bird Cage balcony seats, its secretive hidden door beneath the stage, through which lies the underground hidden gambling room, next to a hidden room for a lady of the night, the OK Corral Morgan Earp, Doc Holliday, Virgil Earp and Wyatt Earp and their gun fight with Tom McClaury, Frank McClaury, and Billy Clanton, the Boothill Graveyard headstone of Lester Moore and the headstone of John Heath, the reflective multicolored boatload of glass, the mass of blue and white glass atop a wall, the lighted view of purple stem vegetation glass, the lighted view of red stem vegetation glass, the closer view of the textures and shapes of Chihuly glass, the overlook view of Comet Neowise with a saguaro, which was brightly shining over the town of Cave Creek, eventually with its bright green coma and tail, as it appears to drop down into a saguaro grove, the day when rare snow fell in the Sonoran Desert and covered Black Mountain in a white blanket, the weeks of a devastating large record setting Bush Fire that continuously raged through the Superstition Mountains, the day when the Aquila Fire burned through Desert Hills causing massive destruction to a few structures, the day that the East Desert Fire nearly burned into the Cave Creek area, and then two weeks later the day when the devastating Ocotillo Fire did burn down into and throughout the estates which were protected by spectacular firefighting around the town of Cave Creek leaving behind this iconic image.

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