22 BIRDS OF THE PAPAGO SAGUARO NATIONAL MONUMENT. 



At about 6,000 feet the divide is reached, and here, abruptly as a 

 passage from one room to another, one is plunged into a different 

 world. Toward Roosevelt Lake the hot, southern exposure of the 

 mountains is steep and rocky, sparsely clothed in scattered vegetation 

 ifiat~is^ptH^ly\of the desert. To the northward extend forests of 

 f yellow pine, nyile after mile and ridge beyond ridge, far as the eye 

 N2an reach, cerol and shady, and with running water in every canyon. 

 The startling effects of different exposures and altitudes are, of 

 course, well-known phenomena of our western mountains, but there 

 are few places where there is opportunity of contrasting such an 

 absolute change in so short a distance, especially where such large 

 areas are involved. 



Besides the yellow pine the forests contain one or two other coni- 

 fers, though in lesser numbers. On the warmer hillsides there is a 

 good deal of juniper, while at higher altitudes, especially in deeply 

 cut, shaded canyons, there are many large firs. There is an abun- 

 dancp. of oak timber, both large-sized, deciduous white oaks, and live- 

 oak brusfi^ Along the streams are sycamore, maple, alder, ash, and 

 ^box^ldwfi,nd on the hillsides thickets of locust, clumps of sumach, 

 with here and there a tangle of grapevines. It is a region of abun- 

 dant vegetation and running streams. The latter have recently been 

 stocked with trout, promising an added attraction in the near future. 



For scenic beauty nothing can excel the canyons on the northeast 

 side of the range, difficult of access at the present time, but abun- 

 dantly repaying the effort it takes to reach them. Hemmed in by 

 walls of appalling height, so steep that one looks down as from the 

 roofs of buildings, one gorge after another comes into view miles in 

 extent, the very vastness of the outlook forming an obstacle to a full 

 appreciation of it all. On many of these canyon walls there are clus- 

 ters of cliff dwellings tucked under projecting ledges, inaccesible 

 from above and difficult to reach even from the canyons below. From 

 the higher peaks can be seen, far to the northward, the imposing line 

 of the Mogollons, stretching as far as the eye can reach. 



The clearness of the Arizona atmosphere, permitting easy vision 

 over distances unheard of elsewhere, enables one to obtain in such 

 places as this, through concrete examples before the eye, fuller reali- 

 zation of the characteristics and peculiarities of the country than can 

 be learned from many pages of written descriptions and explanations. 

 The Mogollon Divide as a factor in distribution becomes more of a 

 reality when it is actually in view, imposing its presence across the 

 whole horizon. That the desert and the mountain top are different 

 worlds, as far as most animals and plants are concerned, is brought 

 strongly home to one when, sitting in the cool shade of pine trees, he 

 looks down into a scorching valley, but a few miles away in actual dis- 

 tance, and with absolutely no physical obstruction to uninterrupted 



