R.J. Luce
Mystery Writer & Nature Photographer
HomeExcerpt from River of Life: A desert river is a both a linear oasis and Mother Nature’s psychiatrist. Sitting quietly along the bank of a river is a soothing experience, and one simply cannot help but feel more relaxed and positive after a half hour therapy session. However, at another time, a river experience can be thrilling: noisy riffles, massive bank-to-bank logjams, or huge, old cottonwoods creaking mournfully in the wind. Unexpected encounters with wildlife are always just around the next curve. Ken Lamberton, in Dry River, quotes Alan Weisman, “Every bend of the Santa Cruz (River) is worthy of a gasp.” I can think of no better way to describe the San Pedro.
The San Pedro is not just a river it is an ecological experience. Life is sparse in the desert, but abundant within in the thin, magical riparian corridor of trees, shrubs, grasses, water plants, and wildlife that thrives along any slow, meandering river. That is especially true along a desert river. A.B Clarke described the trees along the San Pedro in 1852: “They are principally cottonwoods, with some sycamore, willow, and mesquite…” ̶ very similar to the riparian vegetation of today.
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