AZ Roadtrip - Day One

[Mark Walker]

Well, I've been off on another crazy roadtrip - this one originally intended
on being only for pleasure, but ending up work related afterall.  The bad
news is that I'm not able to head up to Corvalis - where many of you are
probably reading this.  Another LepSoc meeting that I can't attend.  At
least I've been in the field for several days.  That makes me feel a little
better (OK, so a lot better).

I wanted to do something completely different on this trip.  I took my son
along, and we drove all day and night on Friday to arrive in SE AZ.  On
Saturday morning, July 21, we got up on the eastern side of Tucson, ate some
cheese eggs and raisin toast at the local Waffle House, and drove to the
remote locations upon Mt. Graham in Graham County.  I expected to be the
only lep lunatic in the area.  How incredibly funny that Hank and SEABA were
on the mountain that day as well.  I'm sure we passed each other.  There's
only one road, and we were on it from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

This is an incredible habitat.  Like many of the mountain ranges in this
part of Arizona, heading upward causes landscape transformation before your
very eyes.  Before you know it, you're looking to put on a coat.  Too bad
you didn't think to bring one.

Mt. Graham is tall and creates it's own weather.  It's monsoon season at
this time of the year in AZ - and you can expect rain at some point during
virtually every day.  But on Mt. Graham, this likelihood is even higher.
Clouds form there when there are few others in the sky.  On the other hand,
during my following days in AZ I have noticed better weather on the mountain
than we experienced on Saturday.  Oh well.  It comes with the territory -
especially when you're me (which I am).  I am absolutely convinced that I
bring precipitation wherever I go.  I suppose I should figure out how to put
it to better use.  In any case, it definitely affected the lep activity on
the upper reaches of Mt. Graham.  Luckily, morning at the lower elevations
brought sufficient sunlight to provide for some good lepping.

Then again, when you pick a place like Mt. Graham - you don't really need to
see any leps.  The floral and geological scenery speaks for themselves.

Before heading for the upper reaches, we picked out a great campsite.  The
camp fee was $10, and of course I didn't bring any change.  While walking
about the campground soliciting for change for a $20, I ran into a nice
couple.  I asked if they had change.  I was wearing a green fishing vest,
and was looking very Forest-Service-like.  The man searched his pockets for
change.  The woman looked at me and mentioned how they had been rained out
at the upper campground, and that they were hoping to get a refund.  I
simply nodded.  She mentioned that it was only fair, and I said, "uh huh".
And then, with big eyes, she says to me, "Do you work here?".

"No, I don't", I replied.

"You don't work here and you collect?", she asked in dismay.

"Well, yes", I said somewhat apologetically.

"You collect, but you don't work here?", she asked again, this time with
some degree of alarm.

I started to nod again and prepare to defend myself when she added, "How can
you collect if you don't work here?".  That's when I realized she was
pointing at the $20 bill in my hand.

"No! No!  He's not collecting", interrupted her husband, "he's asking for
change".

This could only happen to me.  I wondered how she knew I was collecting when
I had left my net in the car.  "You collect?". That's too much.  A better
response:  "Who, me?"  

He didn't have any change.  Neither did anyone else.  I stuffed a $5 bill in
the camping fee envelope, and determined I'd get it from someone later.
When we returned to setup camp, the Mt. Graham rains finally came.  We
decided we didn't really want to camp in the rain, and so we picked up camp
- considered the $5 a suitable donation - and headed for the Ramada Inn at
Safford.

Nice place, BTW.  We had a swim in their indoor pool, I introduced Christian
to the wonders of dry sauna, and then we went to the MegaCinema of Safford
and watched Jurassic Park III.  Father and son.  Not caring enough to read
any reviews, we decided we enjoyed it.

Here's our list from Day One:

Battus philenor (Pipevine Swallowtail)
Papilio polyxenes (Black Swallowtail)
Papilio multicaudata (Two-Tailed Swallowtail)

Pontia protodice (Checkered White)
Colias eurytheme (Orange Sulphur)
Zerene cesonia (Southern Dogface)
Phoebis sennae (Cloudless Sulphur)
Eurema mexicana (Mexican Yellow)
Nathalis iole (Dainty Sulphur)

Strymon melinus (Gray Hairstreak)
Celastrina ladon (Spring Azure)
Hemiargus ceraunus (Ceraunus Blue)
Leptotes marina (Marine Blue)
Plebejus acmon (Acmon Blue)

Phyciodes texana (Texas Crescentspot)
Texola elada (Elada Checkerspot)

Polygonia satyrus (Satyr Comma)
Euptoieta claudia (Variegated Fritillary)
Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady)
Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral)
Limenitis arthemis arizonensis (Arizona Purple)
Limenitis weidemeyerii (Weidemeyer's Admiral)
Adelpha bredowii eulalia (Arizona Sister)
Cyllopsis pyracmon nabokovi (Pyracmon Satyr)
Megisto rubricata (Red Satyr)  

Staphylus ceos (Ceos Skipper)
Erynnis juvenalis (Juvenal's Duksywing)
Pholisora catullus (Common Sootywing)
Poanes taxiles (Taxiles Skipper)

Mark Walker
still in Tucson, AZ
  

 
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