Journal July 27 I arrived just before dawn having driven (and intermittently slept) through the night via Interstate 10 to Benson, Arizona then southw[est] via Arizona State Highways 186 & 181 to USFS roads over Quinn Saddle to S Fork of Cave Creek. I enjoyed a quick bowl of Wheaties and hit the trail at 05:15, still a bit dark to see much, but the dawn chorus was in progress, and concluded abruptly at 05:40. I liked the main trail from the end of the road to Snowshed Ridge, 4 1/2 miles one way. The weather was splendid all day. Temps 55°F - 80°F, with variable light breezes. There were a few clouds to the E at sunrise (stunning), otherwise clear until about 14:30 when a few thunder clouds passed by. I left the area at 16:30 to eating lunch, rearranging the vehicle, & attending to personal cleanliness. This is a well known place to biologists and hikers alike. I'm sure the vegetation has been more accurately described elsewhere, but I offer the following sketch anyway. The vegetation here changes gradually as one ascends the Canyon. The canyon walls themselves are spectacular in places, riddled with petrobolas, layer caves, and shafts. Their reddish color is often overwhelmed by lichens imparting their gray-green mottling. In the vicinity of the campground, the woodland is dominated by oaks of at least 4 species. Other large trees include a few sycamores (commoner upstream & much commoner downstream), Arizona cypress, madrones, alligator junipers, and a few ponderosa pines. Tree trunks are rare, though seedlings were fairly numerous. There were a few mesquite trees, too. At Maple Camp, 1 1/2 mi