Monday, January 9, 2012

Night in the Woods

I put on the backpack Saturday morning and headed up a ridge called Tanque Verde in the Rincon Mountains in Saguaro National Park.  I would camp for two nights in the same place and on the middle day climb to a peak far above the desert.  Today, I’ll only report on that first day of uphill backpacking to Juniper Basin.

Winter
with its birds
nesting in holes
in saguaros
its morning sun
finding them yellow
with bent light
its rays pretend
not to move
since sunset
peek around
the other side
and the birds laugh




 


Lifelike arms of the dead
protest my coming
they hiss
like a cornered possum
with no escape













A cairn of stacked rocks marks the trail of man.
A cairn of weathered rock marks the trail of god.









Higher up the ridge saguaros fade away.
Pinion pines, junipers, and live oaks replace them.











At 6,000 feet elevation, large trees and patches of snow, with a trickle of water, make a good campsite. 









The tree is dead and mammoth, a good four feet in diameter.  Maybe it choked on that stone it was eating.













Sunset over the ridge I’d be climbing on Sunday.














I could have walked all night in full moon light.







I have many more pictures of this secluded and peaceful place.


11 comments:

  1. ...and danced in it as well with imaginary partner...
    ( last photo with full moon)

    ReplyDelete
  2. new year's violet
    a dragon in the trees
    holds the moon

    ReplyDelete
  3. A lovely haiku, Susan. Erika, we danced in the moonlight, yes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. animals plants poets
    in the arms of the dragon
    dance with the full moon

    So lovely to find you all her in the full moon after my t'ai chi and yoga class... and the tree eating a rock and some kind of a god marking her trail through the mountains... now I am off to howl at the moon... I mean glee club rehearsal, and will sing of you... looking forward to the next installment of this story... and also the rest of the photos at your welcome home salon Sharon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, Kathabela, the moon is also full tonight, when you are finished howling, maybe you will join our circle of dancers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Plump moon, happy and full
    It dares not show the sun
    How it feasts on her glow.

    ReplyDelete
  7. new song Steven!! You must have just finished dinner! (I'm the one who "feeds poets to the moon" but I know YOU are a vegetarian!

    ReplyDelete
  8. The sagauro with both arms up seems alive and welcoming. It's humorous. The moon is very clear. Looking at the last photo, I can imagine how peaceful and beautiful it must be just watching the moon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thoroughly enjoyed the night in the woods! Thank you for this journey, Sharon!

    full moon
    I travel in its light
    here and there

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amazing pics. Amazing account too of your trip through your poetry.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It seems my picture of the moon has inspired many of you to write haiga, and for that I am happy. Thank you Stevie, Steven, Kathabela and Susan for your lovely poems. I have placed them with the picture for reading perhaps at some presentation when I return.

    Thank you also who answered without poems: Mandy, Keiko, and Erika. Your comments are much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete