Superstition Wilderness, Tonto National Forest, Arizona

One February I was able to spend three days hiking in this wilderness that is actually only little more than one hour away from Phoenix, Arizona. The flora was absolutely foreign to me as a New Englander, and this photo captures so much of its diversity I particularly love hiking through cactus which is a novelty. This wilderness has lots of the very tall Saguaro (pronounced suh - waa - row ) cactus, cholla cactus which kind of looks like a mini Joshua tree with spiky balls that can allegedly jump out at you, barrel cactus, and prickly pear cactus. The huge mountain in the distance catching alpenglow is known as the Four Peaks, elevation 7657'.