SUMMER

OUR WAY IS THROUGH THE HIGH, cool mountains in summertime, high in the mountains where the aspen, the pine, the fir and the spruce choose to dwell. Our way is along the wayward streams wan-dering down through the forest and meadow; our way is by the lakes you find here and there in the high mountain regions of our land, the lakes like gems in regal settings. In a country by popular and erroneous report a desert country, it is surprising how many mountain ranges can be found. The broad shoulders of mountains rise in almost every part of the state as if the land is trying to get closer to the sky. The land is a checkerboard of mountain, foothill, desert. Wherever you stand in the desert, you can look up at some high mountaintop. About this time of the year, you always look to the mountains, as the saguaro looks to the pine.

The pine, literally millions of which reside in our mountains, is one of the most majestic trees. It is a living thing, just as you and I, subject to sickness and death and tragedy. It is a living thing, too, just as you and I, subject to content-ment and repose and happiness. It grows tall and firm and strong and wears its age gracefully. It is a patient and philosophical tree. Its age is much more than the traditional four score and 10. And with age, as it should, comes wisdom, and with wisdom, patience. In all the world, nothing has the tantalizing odor of a pine forest. There is a tanginess and a bittersweetness that fills the air, and it is the most invigorating of all smells. Nor was there ever music on Earth like the music of the wind in the tall pines. The lap-ping of the waves on an ocean beach is the only music comparable, and that is not as restful.

Compared to the pine, the spruce and the fir are more standoffish. These are the sedate trees, with courtly and stately airs, very beautiful as living things, whose low murmuring is that of cultivated and modulated voices in easy conversation. These trees, too, make music with the wind. The merriest of all is the aspen, whose green leaves are full of chatter and laughter, delicate instruments for the wind to play the most sparkling of mountain melodies. In summertime, the aspen come into their greater glory. They put on their dresses of gayest green, and they enjoy themselves to the fullest. In autumn, their gowns turn to gold, and then, when winter's chill is upon the land, the leaves fall, the aspen remaining bare and forlorn-looking, so maybe that is why they make the most of their summer fling.

The birds, which leave the mountains to the snow and silence in winter, return for the summer, and anyone can tell by listening to them how happy they are to be back. Their days are full of the joy of living, the joy of bright and sunshiny afternoons, the joy of clean, cool, fragrant mountains. Nothing so bespeaks sheer joyousness as the song of birds, unless it is the music of mountain streams, the gurgling music of cold, clear water running over the polished stones of the streambeds. Where the descent is steep, the streams flow swiftly and break off into falls. Here the song of the mountain streams is loudest, so loud that the music of the nearby trees can scarcely be heard.

Summertime in the mountains is a time of melody and music. The trees, the birds and the streams blend their voices in perfect harmony. Mixed conifers surround one of several idyllic meadows along the East Fork Trail, a moderate hiking route in the White Mountains of Eastern Arizona. This 7.5-mile trail, part of which follows the East Fork of the Little Colorado River, leads into the Mount Baldy Wilderness.

The East Fork of the Black River flows through a landscape of tall grass and wildflowers in the White Mountains. The Black River eventually merges with the White River to form the Salt River, one of Arizona's most vital waterways.

► GUY SCHMICKLE

Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte anchor a view of a lightning strike during a monsoon storm in Red Rock Country. Dramatic lightning displays are common during the Arizona monsoon, which officially lasts from mid-June to the end of September.

NIKON D800, 1/6 SEC, F/14, ISO 100, 27 MM LENS

◄JOEL HAZELTON

The setting sun colors the sky over grasslands surrounding the summit of Escudilla Mountain, near Alpine. The White Mountains, of which Escudilla Mountain is a part, are known for their vast, evergreen-ringed grasslands.

CANON EOS 6D, 6 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 22 MM LENS

Considered for The Journal, September 2023

An agave and a hedgehog cactus grow side by side on Juniper Mesa, part of the Prescott National Forest. The Juniper Springs Trail, a steep hiking route, offers magnificent views of this remote and rugged area.

CANON EOS 5DS R, 1/8 SEC, F/11, ISO 100, 27 MM LENS

Low-hanging storm clouds embrace the Santa Catalina Mountains, near Tucson, at sunset. The Santa Catalinas, a “sky island” range, and the neighboring Tucson area are known for their dramatic views of the setting sun.

◄DOUG KOEPSEL

The leaves of a tall tree contrast with the layered sandstone of Oak Creek Canyon along the West Fork of Oak Creek. Juxtapositions such as this one make the trail along the West Fork one of Arizona's most popular hiking routes.

► CLAIRE CURRAN

A shallow pool at Coyote Buttes South, a remote section of Northern Arizona's Vermilion Cliffs, mirrors the colors of sunrise. This area and the neighboring Coyote Buttes North are administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and a permit is required to visit.

► JOEL HAZELTON

Considered for Down South, August 2023 Late-afternoon light and dramatic clouds define a view of a Southern Arizona grassland near the Canelo Hills. This photo was made along a segment of the Arizona Trail, an 800-mile route that crosses Arizona from north to south.

CANON EOS 6D, 1/8 SEC, F/14, ISO 100, 19 MM LENS

◄JOEL HAZELTON

The sun shines between evergreen boughs above a fork of the Black River in the White Mountains. In all, the Black River runs for 114 miles from its headwaters south of Greer to where it joins the White River.

▲DEREK VON BRIESEN

Corn lilies and ferns proliferate after a summer rain along Forest Road 249 in the White Mountains. This road, which was paved several years ago, connects the Big Lake area to the town of Alpine.

Wildflowers bloom along the banks of Bear Wallow Creek, in the White Mountains, after summer monsoon rains. This area was heavily affected by the 2011 Wallow Fire, the largest wildfire in Arizona's recorded history, but has recovered dramatically in recent years.

LAURENCE PARENT

SONY ALPHA 7R III, 0.4 SEC, F/16, ISO 200, 17 MM LENS