SKY ISLANDS: Maderas de El Carmen, MEXICO !!!

[homerboy2u]

If you throw this word on the net WIKIPEDA will answer you with this:

Sky island
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For the fantasy novel by L. Frank Baum, see Sky Island.
Sky islands are mountains in ranges isolated by valleys in which other ecosystems are located. As a result, the mountain ecosystems are isolated from each other, and species can develop in parallel, as on island groups such as the Galápagos Islands.

The best known examples of sky islands are the Madrean sky islands at the northern end of the Sierra Madre Occidental in New Mexico, Arizona, Chihuahua and Sonora on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Other sky islands of note are the Great Basin montane forests of the United States' Great Basin, the Tepuis of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana, and in Africa. Some Asian examples include Mt. Victoria (3050 m) in central Myanmar, Fan Si Pan (3140 m) in northernmost Vietnam, and the mountains of central Taiwan; these mountains all hold isolated outposts of Palearctic flora in the otherwise tropical Indomalayan flora region.

 What? a sky island near Big Bend...but its the Chihuahuan Desert, ever present....go crack a nut, Buddy :!:  :!:  :!:

[homerboy2u]

Still not understanding what a sky island is I took it a task to find out, at least visually what are these "new" concepts to me of the mountain ranges.

 So i found this link:

http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/imagefilesfr/r119f02.htm

 Illustrative it shows me how the vegetation changes, abruptly from piñon-juniper-chapparral , then to pine forest, then again to firr forest. Then back again to pine forest and finally back again to piñon-juniper-chaparral.

  What interesting concept to learn.

[homerboy2u]

Well not satisfied whit what i found , i took it upon me to find out what exactly was that i was reading and needed to confirm.

 So i planned my trip with rest of my 4x4 club and on we went.. our mission :?: . To the top of the Sierra Del Carmen's.

Moderator note:  the image originally posted has since been overwritten with the following which has absolutely nothing to do with this topic.  :?
http://www.bigbendgallery.com/uploads/files/1.jpg

 BTW, thats me between the brown Cherokee and the grey Ford bronco... :oops:

  So we headed to uncharted territory for us , not knowing exactly where we were going or what we were going stumble in front of us. Out yonder, we saw an edge,didn't know what it was but it was an ending to something,on we went.

[Casa Grande]

....and I'm waiting with baited breath  =P~

[Roy]

I visited Great Basin National Park a few years ago and it was a real education in this type of thing.  The Great Basin is a huge area scooped of by glaciers between the Rockies and the Sierras;  no water of any kind flows out of the Basin.  Dotted across the Basin are small mountain ranges that the glaciers left behind.  The Basin floor is something like 4000 ft. elevation and has a unique ecology dictated by it's peculiar water flow characteristics;  the Park itself is centered around one of those remnant mountains, Wheeler Peak, which is over 13,000 ft.  As you gain altitude, you cross a number of ecozones, including pine forests, aspen groves, little glacier fed lakes, ending in alpine tundra and ultimately bare rock.  When you are at altitude, you can see a couple of other mountains that are miles away;  but the plants and animals that live in these mountainous areas are completely isolated from one another.

[homerboy2u]

After a long and strenous trek, we did a tough hike because there were no more roads and it was about 5 km of straight up mountain ranges, we reached the most beautifull vista I have ever seen. The Edge of Sierra del Carmen.


 There was reason to celebrate, for never in our wildest dreams would we ever had an idea of what we were going to see...a true tresure chest:

[RichardM]

I visited Great Basin National Park a few years ago and it was a real education in this type of thing.  The Great Basin is a huge area scooped of by glaciers between the Rockies and the Sierras;  no water of any kind flows out of the Basin.  Dotted across the Basin are small mountain ranges that the glaciers left behind.  The Basin floor is something like 4000 ft. elevation and has a unique ecology dictated by it's peculiar water flow characteristics;  the Park itself is centered around one of those remnant mountains, Wheeler Peak, which is over 13,000 ft.  As you gain altitude, you cross a number of ecozones, including pine forests, aspen groves, little glacier fed lakes, ending in alpine tundra and ultimately bare rock.  When you are at altitude, you can see a couple of other mountains that are miles away;  but the plants and animals that live in these mountainous areas are completely isolated from one another.

Sounds like a cool place to visit.  I'll have to settle for checking out the NPS site for now:  http://www.nps.gov/grba/

[homerboy2u]

Now lets see if i can show you what i mean by a treasure chest.


This view is at 2190 mt above sea level....a picture worth more than a 1000 words.

  You should have been there: winds gusting faster than 50 MPH's , we had a wind speedometer with us....just amazing.

[BigBendHiker]

Hi Homero:
Thanks for this information and the links.  I had never heard of a sky island before.  

Great pictures there as well!!



BBH

[homerboy2u]

You are totally right,Roy...all the changes in the Ecosystems were very abrupt, and the difference between species was inmediate, you reached a certain altitude there were no birds, you went on up, then no more snakes, kept going up the end of flowers and cedars..and so on and so on.

 Well, on with my trip:

  There were beautiful views and overlooks to contemplate:


 and more views:

BTW, if youcan get to see a serpent like cut in the foreground along the mountain range,  that is Boquillas Canyon...very far up from the ground.

[Roy]

Awesome.

[Joe]

Great stuff, Homero.

[homerboy2u]

Right you are BBH, it was new concept for me too,very interesting to follow up what you get on the internet, then go to the place in specific, and find out for your self.

This snapshot is with part of my group,all of them very tough and friendly. Still, wish this picture was taken with my friends of BiBe.


 So, we had our filled...about 4 hours of viewing, to be more specific. Then common sense kicked back in and it was time to head back to camp. To a great celebration and a fantastic dinner, for all opf us.


 On our way back we found interesting stuff, like a very very old mine shafts and equipment:



and look at this winch...very modern indeed:




 Take a look at this mine shaft, one false step and the only thing left to do is drop some flowers at you. No way we can bring you up.

[homerboy2u]

We found some very intreresting stuff such as a Manbear:


 And a crazy horse taking a swim at 3 degrees centigrades, well actually it was stuck. We notified the owner, and he was already prepping up to get it out of the glacier pond.

[bdann]

Homero!  Those are awesome pics, fantastic stuff!