Saguaro National Park

Wednesday, we took in Saguaro National Park. We actually got kind of a late start because we were busy downloading photos from our cameras, and I was busy adding photos to previous blog posts - like the day at the beaches in San Diego - to the blog. I am having so much fun that I am getting behind on my blog posts, as you will note since I am adding Wednesday on Saturday.

We finally got going to Saguaro about after 2 pm. I stamped my National Park Passport. When we checked in at the Visitor Center, there was a ranger talk on how hard it is for the Saguaro to propagate. We decided to attend the lecture, and were glad we did. Each Saguaro puts out about 40 million seeds in its lifetime, but is lucky if one of two of them germinate and turn into an adult cactus. After the cactus blooms and the seeds the birds or people don't eat fall to earth, it has only a 2 month window to receive 2" of a gentle rain in order to germinate. Since this is a desert climate, that doesn't always happen although the Saguaro does time its bloom for just the right season to make some rain a probability. Then once it has germinated, the new Saguaro plant is extremely tiny and can be killed by an animal or human accidentally stepping on it because it is hard to see. It takes about 10 years for a new one to grow knee high. When you look out over this valley at the hundreds of thousands of Saguaro standing sentry there, it seems impossible that this giant plant could have been that successful against those odds. An adult Saguaro will live for anywhere to 150 to 300 years, depending on bird or human depredation and resistance to natural diseases. The ranger said that no one knows why some of them have only one or two arms and some have six or more. She also said that it is against the law in Arizona to harm or kill a Saguaro.

Since we had walked thru the cactus garden attached to the Visitor Center the night before, we headed right out on the Bajada Loop Drive. First stop was the Desert Discovery Trail, a one-half mile hike. We walked that and took photos. We discovered a new plant we had never seen before. Dan identified it as a Buckhorn cholla. It was bearing a profusion of still-green fruit with some just turning to yellow in February! We also saw a lot of baby Saguaro now that we knew what to look for.

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Next stop was Valley View overlook which was designed as a photo op for the cacti since the dirt road was too narrow and too busy to pull over to take photos. We did take advantage of the view. Last stop was Sand Hill picnic area. A short hike (that the Park had helpfully stepped with rocks) up the mountain to some petroglyphs could be accessed from the back side of the picnic area. Of course, we took the hike. At the first sign, it was hard to see them at first. Look up; way up. We took the steps all the way up to the top of that mountain peak which is where most of the petroglyphs are located. They are in remarkably good shape. I think perhaps because they are mostly on the side of what are granite surfaces.



It was after 5 pm when we finished the Bajada Loop Drive and exited the park. But we did not really "loop" and were not back at the Visitor Center. It took us a while to figure out how to get back to where we started. The drive exits onto Sandario Road and one has to turn left onto Mile Wide Road (an ironic name) to get back to the Visitor Center. Taking the drive from the Desert Museum to Saguaro National Park, we noted how close one gets to those giant cacti on the road itself, so Carol took a movie of it while I drove thru it. I hope the movie captures the magic of the scene as we experienced it.I forgot to make a turn and we got lost for a little while, and so ended up getting back to home base a little late. We had soup for dinner, which was just perfect after our day in the mountains (it can be a little chilly up there especially as the sun sinks slowly in the West).

Called Dejah to send wishes to her on her special day. She is still stuck on going to a Baptist college in Waco, Texas. I can't picture that being a good choice long-term.