Waddell, Arizona.

This spring, the desert is blooming much more fully than I’ve seen it in previous years. Only one other year came close, 2013, and it wasn’t quite as prolific for wildflowers as this year. Since moving to Arizona, one of our favorite pastimes is hiking in the nearby mountains. On Thursday this week, I led a hike along the Mesquite Canyon Trail in the White Tanks Mountain Regional Park. The wildflowers, especially the bright yellow brittlebush dominates the landscape, but the green growth on the mountains take away the brown, barren desert appearance. This year, in just the fall and winter seasons, the area received around 4 inches of rain. Though I don’t know the average for the same time frame, I know we’ve had more rainy days than usual. We even shut off the watering system at our house for a short time as the plants were getting plenty without us providing our usual input.

About the photo: Captured with my Samsung S7, this view of Mesquite Canyon Trail was captured at f/1.7; 1/3500 sec.; ISO-50. The rule for Cellpic Sunday is simple, the image must be captured with a mobile device. Since I only had my cellphone with me on Thursday’s hike, Lynn and I came back to the park on Friday with my Nikon D500 so I could capture some macro and HDR images from the park. Those photos will be featured in an upcoming post.

John Steiner