With the double function of meeting up with my wife Emily’s family in Tucson,  we were blessed with the ability to plan a side trip to the Chiricahua, and it did not disappoint. We made our way up to the Echo Valley trailhead loop (Pictured at the top of this writeup) and found ourselves surrounded by plants familiar to the full expanse of the west coast, from Southern California to the Canadian boarder, along with other close relatives, and some unique mysteries that I still haven’t integrated into the growing plant catalogue in my head. Our quest, occurring in early December, maintained a bonus goal of collecting acorns from the blue oaks, Q. oblongifolia primarily, and if we were lucky, Q. Arizonica. Though we didn’t find a single population of Q. oblongifolia on our route through the Chiricahua, I did find fresh and perfect acorns from a Q. arizonica minutes before jumping back into the car to head down the mountain!