From bottom to top...mountains and how I love them

I'm going to share with you what my "drive up the mountain" looks like. I'm always writing about this so I took my time on Sunday - since I figure it will be my last trip up - and stopped by the roadside to take pictures. What I realized after all these years that I'm actually driving up, through and around more than one mountain...it's more like 3 or 4 sets of mountains. So here goes...

First set as I begin my climb has gorgeous saguaro cactus at the base of it as I leave the desert area of Arizona. This is probably my favorite part, I am always fascinated by these cacti. Even after living here for 30 years I can't look at one of these cactus without thinking of the old black and white western movies that we use to watch as kids.
Then...

as I begin to get a little higher (in elevation, not the other kind) the roads get more windy and the beautiful saguaros are gone and being replace with mesquite and brush. This is a fairly new part of the highway. I remember when I began coming up these mountains in 1996 this road was only 2 lanes wide, one lane each way and most of this area was under construction so many areas had only one lane open. They had to blast through the mountains to expand the highway. Boy, that was a fun trip when you got stuck behind a huge truck or someone pulling an RV!

At the base of this one there is a sign telling you to turn off your air-conditioner for the next few miles. I guess to help with acceleration?...I don't know I'm not a mechanic. My son drove up and down with me for years and years and never noticed that sign until just about a year or so ago. This is steep and once you are up on top you level off for a short while and now you are about 4500 feet in elevation.

I stopped at this point just to show you a shot of where my final destination is...approximately...not quite to the top of those mountains in the background, but pretty close. This ground is still sandy and full of brush, that ends up to be tumbleweeds when they dry up...another cowboy movie icon.

I am not going to hit a straight road again until I get to the top of the Mogollon Rim. The Rim is still in the far background. You can see the change in trees, first cedar trees, which I refer to as bushes not trees, and then finally the famous Ponderosa pine trees. Notice the drop off in the bottom picture...it just gets worse...

See the Ponderosas? Once I get past these and make the final, even steeper climb than the last one I reach the top of the Rim which is 7700 feet in elevation. I didn't get shots of that because I was alone in the car and I had a choice, I could try holding the camera and taking a picture with one hand and drive with the other hand and keep one eye on the camera and one eye on the road....OR arrive in Heber alive and in one piece...I chose the later.
In a matter of two hours a person here in Arizona can drive from 100 degree desert heat with a view of cactus and swimming in a cool pool, to being in comfortable 80 degree temps with clean pollutant-free air, surrounded by huge green pine trees and fishing in one of the many lakes...hmmm which would you choose? Until the day I die I will love mountains, not necessarily driving in them, but  the magic of how they were made...this just makes me realize that there is a God.