Gold Belt Tour Scenic Byway
Phantom Canyon Road Part 1

A look back down the valley I just came up through. Cottonwoods, Ponderosas, gambel oak, Douglas firs, even a few piñons, elevation might be 7,200 to 7,300 feet above sea level. This is at the top of the piñon range and the bottom of the Douglas fir range. South slopes may have lots of piñons here while north slopes will have more firs and spruce. As I head up the hill the piñons will disappear and be replaced by blue spruce and then Engelmann spruce. The cottonwoods will be replaced by aspens, the Douglas fir and Ponderosas by lodgepole pine. Then somewhere just above 11,000 feet, we'll hit treeline and all the tree cover will be gone, leaving grassy slopes (with lots of wildflowers in season) and bare rock.

This photo was taken in the vicinity of the old mining camp at Adelaide.