>>2734852I would say it counts, even though the majority of the high mountain climates of the southwest aren't arid or even semi-arid technically (most being sub-humid, or seasonally humid or outright humid). In most of the SW you don't have to travel all that far to find forest biomes and at least semi-arid biomes, and most people outing in the SW out in both the deserts and the mountains. Pic related, less than 10 air miles from saguaro cacti upper Sonoran desert biome, the water flows year round in parts of the Sonoran desert proper to, thankfully most people don't know where. The high desert can often be more desolate than the lower deserts, but you're still never that far from more temperate forested ranges and canyons.
