Roxborough State Park - October 2017
photos by Barbara Berryman
photos by Barbara Berryman
Barbara B -
Another contingent of Lumpers went to Roxborough State Park Friday and climbed the same Carpenter Trail that Sigrid and others did Wednesday, some of us to “the Bench” and others another mile to Carpenter Peak. The snow in Sigrid’s photo at “the Bench” on Wednesday was all gone, but we still had a little here and there in the shade. We were all astounded at the golden, scrub oak covered hillsides and, of course, at the dramatic red sandstone formations. Quercus gambelii, with the common name Gambel oak, is a deciduous small tree or large shrub that is widespread in the foothills and lower mountain elevations of western North America. It is also regionally called scrub oak, oak brush, and white oak. It was named after the American naturalist William Gambel (1823–1849). The natural range of Gambel Oak is centered in the western United States and northwestern Mexico, in the states of Arizona, Chihuahua, Colorado, New Mexico, Sonora, and Utah. It also extends into Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska, the Oklahoma Panhandle, Coahuila, and western Texas. The tree typically grows at altitudes of 3,300–9,800 ft. above sea level, where precipitation averages between 12–24 inches per year. Not pictured are Gina Guy and Juliet Sherwood. |