FALL

THE LONG, LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER DRIFT BY and the weeks trail after them. Then one day summer is gone and it is autumn. You will find autumn in the mountains along the roads through the aspen. The leaves, a few weeks ago so green and shiny and sparkling in the sunlight, have turned to yellow, gold, red and brown for the touch of autumn is a magic touch and autumn is in the air. The wind tugs at the leaves. They fall to the ground to dance before the wind and they are crisp and crunchy underfoot. Soon all the leaves will be gone from the aspen and the branches, so white and delicate, will hum a different tune to the music of the wind.

All the flowers are gone now. The gay insects, whose voices were raised to summer's song, are gone too. Summer is over and it is time to rest. The gayer colors have faded from earth's covering; another, and warmer, carpet has been spread, a thick brown carpet thick enough and warm enough to keep out the cold of winter.

The days of autumn are shorter, and they hurry along as if they had more important business elsewhere. There is frost on the ground in the morning and the air has a bite and a nip. Night falls swiftly and there is not that lingering twilight that marks the days of summer. The stars have a steely look, as if they, too, felt the season's change.

Yet not even spring is more beautiful in the mountains than autumn. The colors of the leaves turning before autumn's touch are extravagantly rich, a profusion of gold coin, turning to more solemn tones, flung over the land. Against the color of the turning leaves, the green of the pine and spruce stands out and even the blue of the sky takes on a depth and character it does not possess at any other time during the year.

Autumn brings a hush to the mountain world, as if all the world were tensed and waiting. The gossipy, chattering birds have taken their gossip and chatter to other places. What you hear is the sound of the crispy, brown leaves dancing before the wind.

The colorful leaves of maples and other trees cover rocks along Workman Creek in Central Arizona. This secluded waterway is one of the best places in the state to spot fall color; typically, the most vibrant leaves can be found in late October and early November.

Considered for Leafing Through Arizona, October 2021 A single aspen clings to its summer attire as those around it don their autumn hues near Arizona Snowbowl, a ski area in the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff. In fall, aspens are the main attraction in the Peaks. which also are home to 12,633-foot Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona.

CLAIRE CURRAN DAVID MUENCH

Considered for Our State of Water, May 2021 The Little Colorado River, at this point no more than a small stream, flows through an idyllic meadow near its headwaters in the White Mountains. In all, the Little Colorado runs for nearly 340 miles before emptying into the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

CLAIRE CURRAN

Considered for Leafing Through Arizona, October 2021 The vibrant red of maple leaves in Workman Creek Canyon contrasts with the green leaves in the foreground. Photographer Claire Curran notes that this area of the canyon is experiencing a successful recovery after much of its vegetation burned in a wildfire.

DAVID MUENCH

Considered for When You Can't Go Any Farther, July 2021 A slope covered with volcanic cinders supports sparse plant life and offers a view of the cloud-shrouded San Francisco Peaks, themselves the remains of an eroded stratovolcano. Some 600 extinct volcanoes, ranging from 6 million years old to less than 1,000 years old, can be found in the San Francisco Volcanic Field.

Considered for It's Time You Get to Know Jack, September 2021 Singed skin and burned-off spines mark a barrel cactus that was damaged in the 2020 Bighorn Fire, which charred nearly 120,000 acres in the Santa Catalina Mountains. In 2021, however, researchers noted vegetation and wildlife returning to some areas affected by the fire.

Considered for Leafing Through Arizona, October 2021 Autumn-hued cottonwoods at Western Arizona's Cibola National Wildlife Refuge stand in rising water. The refuge, which is adjacent to the Colorado River, protects native fish populations and serves as a migratory corridor for grebes, herons, egrets and other bird species.

GEORGE H.H. HUEY

Considered for Arizona National Parks Guide, August 2021 Rhyolite hoodoos, the best-known features of Southeastern Arizona's Chiricahua National Monument, bask in the light of sunset. This section of hoodoos can be viewed from the Heart of Rocks Loop, a moderate hiking route accessed via another trail that begins near the monument's visitors center.

Considered for It's Time You Get to Know Jack, September 2021 Healthy agaves reach skyward amid windblown grasses near the Southern Arizona town of Sonoita. There are more species of agave at least 21, including varieties and subspecies in Arizona than in any other U.S. state, and agaves were a staple food and textile source for the area's pre-Columbian cultures.

Considered for Leafing Through Arizona, October 2021 Resplendent aspen leaves anchor a view of nearby peaks from Arizona Snowbowl, near Flagstaff. Typically, aspen leaves in the Flagstaff area reach their peak from late September to midOctober, and several well-maintained dirt roads around the San Francisco Peaks offer an easy way to see them at their best.

Considered for When You Can't Go Any Farther, July 2021 Early morning sun illuminates sandstone hoodoos in the Devil's Playground, part of the wilderness portion of Petrified Forest National Park. Making up more than a third of the park, this wilderness area features alluring petroglyphs and other archaeological sites, along with numerous petrified logs.

SUZANNE MATHIA

Considered for Just Some of the Pretty Horses. April 2021 Two wild horses take a dip in the cool water of the Salt River northeast of Phoenix. Horses have been in Arizona since at least 1540, when they arrived with Spanish explorers; the animals retain a deep spiritual meaning among many of the state's tribes.

ADAM SCHALLAU

Considered for A Perfect Week at Grand Canyon National Park, August 2021 The light of sunset streams through curtains of rain in the Grand Canyon, as viewed from Cape Royal on the North Rim. This viewpoint, the southernmost overlook on the North Rim, offers a 270-degree view of the Canyon, along with a glimpse of the Colorado River far below.

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