Beautiful in it's own way

But I don't want to live here.
Some of you may know I am a competitive pistol shooter, and last week Mr C and I were in Prescott Arizona to compete in a match. Of course, the gardener in me is always on the lookout for any flora and fauna, and although I did not see critters of any kind, there were some interesting plants to capture shots of with my trusty Kodak easyshare.

This is the terrain where the range is located. It is rocky, dry, with scrubby stunted trees and shrubs, seemingly doing well in such a harsh environment, but of course they have adapted to survive in this land of hot dry conditions. There were a few flowers still blooming, doing their thing before the cold winter really sets in. Yes they do get snow here, as it is around 5000-6000 feet in altitude.

Prickly friends

There is an abundance of prickly pear cactus in the area.

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The hardy aster was the only plant growing on the side of the dry berm.

I cannot identify this plant.

Prickly poppy
Such a delicate bloom on a very prickly plant

Alligator juniper bark

The only water I could see for miles around, was in this stock tank fed by the windmill, although the unpaved road into the range, showed evidence of a recent downpour, with deep washouts across the road. Fortunately the club at the range owns a grader which was used to smooth the road out the day before the match, other wise it would have been a very bumpy ride out to the range.

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We have dandelions, this part of Arizona has saguaro cactus.

I took these photos out of the car window, as we blasted along the freeway on our ride back into Phoenix, to catch the plane back to Washington.

Saguaro standing so stately against the background of a clear blue sky.

As much as I think the desert is beautiful, I could not live here. Being born and raised in New Zealand, surrounded by an abundance of green, and just about half an hours drive to the ocean beach, I would be a very unhappy person in this environment.
After competing in the match, we wound down by doing the tourist thing, exploring Prescott and the surrounding area.