SUMMER

(summer) n. the warmest season of the year; in the Northern Hemisphere, generally regarded as including the months of June, July and August.

“She wears a green gown,” Raymond Carlson wrote, “and it is mighty becoming. It isn't a monotonous green, mind you. It is the gray green of the saguaro, the silvery green of ripening grain, the dark green of the pine, the bright green of the sycamore, the light green of weeds on a canal bank, the green of olives with a faintly bluish cast, the just-right green of new mown grass. She's composed, serene and smiling, and carries herself as if she were somebody, which, in truth, she is. She's so cool and calm in her lovely green gown, and she has the loveliest name. Her name is Summer.”

PRECEDING PANEL:

Considered for Heading North for the Summer, August 2022 Ponderosa pines cast long shadows amid abundant greenery near Jacob Lake, north of the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Arizona is home to the world's largest contiguous stand of ponderosa pines.

JEFF MALTZMAN

Considered for Parks and Recreation, May 2022 Fed by monsoon rains, a seasonal flow appears in Alamo Canyon at Catalina State Park. Water crossings and wildlife-watching opportunities make Alamo Canyon a popular destination among hikers who visit the park.

SHANE McDERMOTT

Considered for The Dammed Good Lakes of the Salt River, July 2022 The water of Cibecue Creek flows over weathered rocks along the hike to Cibecue Falls. This moderately difficult hike is on White Mountain Apache Tribe land and requires a permit from the tribe.

REBECCA WILKS

The rising sun shines between aspen leaves on the Kaibab Plateau of Northern Arizona. The curves in the trunks of these aspens are likely the result of heavy snow exerting pressure on the trees when they were younger.

PAUL GILL

Delicate greenery covers a Douglas-fir trunk during a foggy day on Greens Peak, a rounded volcanic knoll near Greer. Greens Peak, which reaches an elevation of 10,132 feet, is the highest such knoll in this section of the White Mountains.

►TOM BEAN

Verdant vegetation surrounds sandstone cliffs at the bottom of Walnut Canyon below Fisher Point. A segment of the 800-mile Arizona Trail, which spans the state from north to south, passes near this spot.

RALPH LEE HOPKINS

Considered for Back Cover, April 2022 Water pockets mirror a cloudy sky near Toroweap Overlook, part of Grand Canyon National Park. This remote overlook, on the Canyon's North Rim, is famed for its 3,000-foot vertical drop to the Colorado River.

CLAIRE CURRAN

Considered for Long Stories Short, July 2022 Birds rest atop aquatic plants in late-afternoon light as the water of Theodore Roosevelt Lake reflects passing clouds. Created when Theodore Roosevelt Dam was completed in 1911, the reservoir has a surface area of more than 21,000 acres, making it the largest lake located entirely in Arizona.

Considered for Heading North for the Summer, August 2022 The blooms of a New Mexico locust add bursts of color to an aspen grove in the Kaibab National Forest. This many-branched shrub, found throughout the American Southwest, is known for its vigorous root sprouting, which makes it easy for it to proliferate after a wildfire.

► CLAIRE CURRAN

Considered for Contents, June 2022 A full moon rises over the White Mountains' Crescent Lake as waterfowl congregate on the reservoir's surface. Crescent Lake sits at an elevation of about 9,000 feet and has an average depth of about 15 feet when full.