Desert Art

DAY SEVENTY FOUR

The desert has long been a haven for artists, a place of repose, tranquility, beauty. It is easy to see why. The colors and shadows are always changing and, as someone once said, it's the only land that God loved so much that he didn't cover it with trees.

Today I took a hike into that world of art on the Art Smith Trail.

The hills around the Art Smith Trail are green and lush with vegetation.

As I hike to the trail, I'm wondering if I'm still in the desert.

The trail is lined with flowers all around. This area has the most flowers of different types that I've seen yet this year.

In addition to many of the various flowers I've seen on other hikes, today I saw these Checker Fiddlenecks.

I also saw quite a few of these Rose Mallows.

Several Cacti were in bloom

Red Barrel Cactus blooms close up.

Despite being close to town and Hwy 74 it doesn't take long on the Art Smith Trail to feel like you're in the wilderness, being swallowed up in the peacefulness of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

I take a few minutes to rest and reflect near this palm oasis before heading home. If only I had some water colors.