Arizona Ecology

For the week for my birthday, I explored Saguaro National Park and Mt Lemmon byway before taking a 256-mile trail run from Black Canyon City to Flagstaff, AZ traversing 40,000 ft of elevation gain as part of the Cocodona 250 endurance race. I encountered a myriad of ecosystems, flora and fauna along the way.

In Saguaro National Park, I encountered dozens of cacti species, petroglyphs and several life birds: White-winged dove, Lark sparrow, Gila woodpecker, and Curve-billed thrasher.

The next day, I made my way south to Tucson where I drove along the Mt. Lemmon byway up to Mt. Lemmon, which is one of the “islands in the sky” - a biodiversity hotspot. Up there, I came across Palmer’s oak, Silverleaf oak, Ponderosa pine, Pinyon pine, and Alligator juniper. Life birds included Olive warbler, Stellar’s jay, Yellow-eyed junco, Pygmy nuthatch, Grace’s warbler, Northern house wren, Mountain chickadee, and Broad-tailed hummingbird

For the race, I would spend the next 80-miles in the rugged Bradshaw Mountains from Black Canyon City to Prescott. I came across Gray vireo, Townsends warbler, Orange-crowned warbler, Black-throated gray warbler, Hepatic tanager, Hutton’s vireo, Plumbeous vireo, Rufous-crowned sparrow, Black chinned sparrow, Phainopepla, Scott’s oriole, Bushtit, Bridled titmous, Bewicks wren, Hammond’s flycatcher and Spotted towhee, Painted redstart.

From Prescott through Sedona, the landscape changed dramatically from cow pastures to red rocks and canyons. Along the way, I encountered Anna’s hummingbird, Black-headed grosbeak, Horned lark, Chihuahuan meadowlark, Say’s phoebe, Bullock’s oriole, Gamble’s quail, Rock wren, Canyon wren, Woodhouse’s scrub jay, Cassie’s kingbird, Ash-throated flycatcher, Virginia’s warbler, Lesser goldfinch, Violet-green swallow, White throated swift, Juniper titmouse, Green-tailed towhee.

A beautiful trip filled with exercise, new friends, natural treasures and a healthy dose of vitamin D. Arizona is a gem.

   

   

   

   

Cocodona 250

No pacers or crew, no problem (sort of). By all accounts, May is bone dry in Arizona - but not this year. All that time heat training, sitting in hot saunas adapting to desert conditions, and ordering sun protection gear would be all for not. Instead, we were greated with hail, snow, cold torrential downpours, thunderstorms and lots of heavy mud. The conditions were so tough that nearly half the field would not complete the race unfortunately.

Cocodona is a 250-mile race from Crown King to Flagstaff, traversing several ecosystems and towns up and over nearly 40,000-feet of elevation gain.

At mile 100, I thought seriously about dropping out given the conditions and state of my gear. I was lucky to get my friend Dane on the phone to talk some sense into me. A guy from TN gave me some extra socks, and a volunteer let me warm up in her truck. After a long break and rest, I ran up to Mingus Mountain fast as possible to stay warm.

From then on, I shared many miles with fellow runners. I’ll never forget the positive attitudes, kindness, depth and humor of these folks. It was a pleasure.

Looking back at my data, I was surprised to see that my moving time across 256 miles was 75 hrs - well ahead of my goal of 90 hours! Unfortunately, I took a lot of time warming up, drying off and resting between movements, totaling 115 hrs elapsed. Turns out crew and pacers are important especially in tough conditions. But that’s ok, I wasn’t trying to win the race! I set out to experience the wild, unbroken natural and cultural essence of Arizona (and to identify as many new birds as possible). So to those ends, mission accomplished! What a beautiful experience. Arizona is a shiny gem.