February 21st-23rd

Saguaro National Park

Tucson, Arizona

Hiking among the tallest cactus species on the planet at Saguaro National Park.

On the East and the West Side of Tucson is the two sides of Saguaro National Park.

 

Pitstop in Tombstone

After our stay at the Mushroom Farm, we made our way to Tucson which also happens to be next door to Saguaro National Park. The short drive North took us through a very dry landscape.  The earth is a dull brown, the horizon is unclear in a haze of dust, and the sky is a bright blue with no clouds in sight. The rolling hills and mountains in the distance break up the monotony of the desert.  The highlight of this drive is stopping and seeing the tourist trap, Tombstone.

The old style main street complete with the O.K. Corral… where the shootout reenactment happens.

Tombstone was one of the last frontier towns of the West that boomed when silver was discovered nearby.  At the height of the town’s popularity in the late 1800’s about 14,000 people lived here. The Gunfight at the O.K Corral was a shootout between outlaw cowboys and the town’s lawmen. It was a time when the West was a place of lawlessness and wildness. Today the town has a kept up the historic buildings, performs several reenactments, and is overall a trap for tourists.

Still has a dirt road going down Main Street.

Hipster store!

Wagon tours!

They still have an undertaker.

We only stayed for about an hour.  We ate some ice cream. Sadly, we didn’t stay for the reenactments.

 

Saguaro National Park

 

Love the architecture of the Visitor Center.

75 years before they start growing arms?!! That’s a slow growing plant.

Cool diagram.

We love seeing Roadrunners!  They are everywhere in the Southwest, but they’re hard to photograph.  So, this is as close to one as we’re going to get.

Cactus hugger! Camrin gets her first introduction to a Saguaro Cactus.  They’re so tall!

 

Impressively, Saguaro Cactus can live to be over 150 years old. As mentioned, they don’t start growing arms until the age of 75. Their rate of growth is dependent on rainfall and when rain is plentiful a single cactus can weigh over 3,200 pounds. That’s almost 2 tons!  They are also really tall.  The tallest living Saguaro is named Champion and is 45.3 feet in height.  The tallest Saguaro ever recorded was measured at 78 feet tall before it fell over in a windstorm in 1986.

The Saguaro cactus also produces an edible fruit. Since the cactus is so tall a long pole is needed to knock off the fruit.  In the park, only people from the O’odham tribes are allowed to pick the fruit. The fruit can be used in several dishes or turned into wine that they use for ceremonial purposes.

As if the Saguaro couldn’t get any more amazing they also provide homes to birds.  Birds either put their nests on the saguaro’s arms, or thanks to woodpecker holes elf owls, wrens, and flycatchers can also find a home.

 

First trail of the day.

They remind us of people.

 

The spines on the Saguaro are no joke.  It seems like everything in the desert is pokey.

This is the fruit on a Cane Cholla.

“Hello! Anyone in there?”

The Eastern side of Park has the highest concentration of Saguaro Cacti.  They can only be found in and around Tucson. They grow nowhere else in the world.

Posing

Together they look like a family. A mom, a dad, and a child.

That’s a lot of arms.

 

 

Next trail!

Some cacti form more like bushes.  Do not want to fall into one of those.

 

The amazing Ocotillo are blooming.

The flower.  Some of the only color in the desert.

The spines on the Ocotillo are super sharp!  Even wearing work gloves won’t keep the prickers out.

It sure is pretty out here.

 

Becoming one with the cacti.

Sweet!

A little way up the trail is an area with petroglyphs.

They are in excellent condition considering how exposed to the elements they are.

Amen

Tina!

 

Thank you, Map!

The third and final trail of the day. For our first day in the park, we chose to do several short hikes to give us a good taste of the overall park.

We only hiked a few miles up, but Camrin wanted to sign in at the trailhead.  You never know when an accident might happen and the Rangers need to know your whereabouts.

Don’t you just want to give it a hug? A very pokey hug?

It doesn’t matter. We’re too short.

In case you were curious about what the end of an arm looks like.

 

A very young cactus with a small fruit growing out of it.

A large hole in the side of a Saguaro. Maybe created by a woodpecker. It’s really cool to see how the cactus has healed. This hole is deep enough to reveal the inner ribs of the cactus.  The ribs are the reinforcing structure that keeps the cactus upright. All this hole is missing is a bird to call it home.

We’re getting pretty high up.

Close up of another Ocotillo flower.

 

We found an awesome birds nest on this Cholla Cactus.  These smart birds have made a nest that looks like a vase with a skinny neck.

My photo doesn’t capture the whole nest. Picture this sideways with nest twigs. An ingenious way to protect oneself and provide a little bit of shade in the desert.  Image copyright: Matt Horne Pottery

 

 

 

Sometimes the landscape reminds us of the art in a Dr. Suess book.

Jumping for joy. This place is pretty sweet.

 

 

Ok, one more jump.

Bees!  Bees love water and will swarm where they find it, so be careful.

 

Found a free place to camp nearby the park. Goodnight!

 

Next Day

Our lovely campsite.  A bit crowded, which we usually don’t mind, except there were no restrooms here and not many tall bushes to hide behind.  Oh well, the price was right and the view was nice.

A small Barrel Cactus near our campsite.  Is it smiling at us?

Trailhead.  Technically we are just outside of Saguaro National Park. This is a county park run by the city of Tucson.  So, if you’re ever in Tucson and don’t want to pay to get into the National Park this is a great option to see the Saguaro for free.

Camrin carefully pulls down an Ocotillo flower.

So Laura can take another photo.  They’re just so pretty.

Taking a break for lunch.  It was a little chilly when just sitting still. Us Wisconsin girls are getting weak with cooler temperatures.

We summited a small mountain!  A bit hazy, but that’s Tucson in the background.

YAY!

 

Friends in Tucson, AZ

This is our friends Jerry and Diane’s house. We know them from Wisconsin where they spend part of the year. When they found out how close we were they reached out and offered us a place to crash for a few nights.  How amazingly beautiful is their home?!  And what a yard!

Being greeted by Roxy.

Roxy was so sweet.  We’re so sad to hear she is no longer with us.

Dinner nook.

 

Drinking wine and Skyping with Camrin’s parents back in Wisconsin.  Sorry, this is the only picture we got of Jerry and Diane.  They were so kind to us during our stay and it was great to have a place to relax for a few days.

The next morning Jerry took us for a walk around their property.  They’re on a pretty secluded lot that is nice and quiet.

 

This house was hand built by the previous owners. They even had a kiln to make their own bricks out of adobe clay. The details put into this house are amazing.

Thanks again to Jerry and Diane! We spent more time in the surrounding area around Tucson so we didn’t see much of the city.  Apparently, there are many biking and hiking trails within the city, but we’ll have to try those out on another trip.

 

Thanks for reading our blog! Up next… Baja California, Mexico!