Ascending Mount Wrightson
The Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona are home to Mount Wrightson, a 9,456-foot peak that creates what is called a sky island. Because the surrounding desert is so ecologically different from the forests and altitude of the mountains, the plants and animals living on the sky island are trapped—which can lead to unexpected or even unique species in what would otherwise be desert. Yarrow's spiny lizard is one such species, common on the Sky Islands of Arizona but absent from the lowlands below.