Because “C” is for “cactus”… we wanted to see more. So we moved to another part of Arizona, closer to Tucson, and spent a nice long day hiking around the east side of Saguaro National Park. Saguaro NP is unusual since it’s a wild place so close to a city, and it’s split into two pieces – one on each side (east and west). The west side is at a lower elevation so it’s warmer and the cactus grow bigger, but we were closer to the east side so that’s where we headed. We got lucky and found a ranger-led hike – always a perfect way to learn a lot about a new place.

We learned about the fishhook barrel cactus that, in this area, tend to lean to the southeast. With the unusual amount of precipitation Arizona had seen recently, the cactus soaked up lots of water… and what happens when you drink too much?? Yep – you keel over.

We learned about some of the other types of cactus such as hedgehog, and some varieties of cholla like this beautiful purple staghorn cholla.

After the ranger hike we headed off on our own to sample the rabbit’s warren of trails. Beautiful views!

We found a cactus wren – which makes its nest in the saguaro…

…and another crested saguaro!

We found a trail crew making some improvements pretty far out on the trails, and Jim fell in love with their nifty motorized carts with tractor treads. Good thing the crew kept the keys safe.

We hiked about 10 miles around the park that day even though it was a little toasty for us – temps in the 80s! Even this roadrunner looked hot, but maybe that’s just my imagination.

We had a great day among the saguaros and mesquite… and wished we had time to check out the west side of the park. Another item for “next time”…

Cruising through the town of Ajo on our way back to the park we spotted one of the adorable Gambel’s quail darting across the road – too fast to get a photo, but it was fun to see one with its little plume bobbing. We spotted a number of other birds unique to the region as well – gila woodpeckers, phainopepla (try and say that three times fast), cactus wren, and roadrunners. I didn’t bring the long lens so it was hard to photograph many of them, but they were a treat to see.

Another rare find was a “cristate” or “crested” saguaro cactus – no one could tell us what causes the unique growth.

The more we explored, the more we returned to the ranger station to ask questions. It was fun to learn about things like why saguaro arms sometimes droop – it’s caused by cold temperatures causing cellular damage where the arm joins the main body, followed by rain or snow. The cactus drinks up the extra water and the increased weight of the arm(s) can’t be supported by the damaged joint(s). The upturn at the end of the arm signals new growth.

Some of the drooped arms made a cactus look like a person gesturing… such as “honey, please…”

…or the ballerina.

Another favorite desert plant was the ocotillo – a large shrub (not a cactus) that looks like a bunch of sticks. If it gets moisture it will quickly sprout leaves all over its branches, as well as a red blossom on the tip. When water is scarce it drops its leaves and hunkers down waiting for moisture again. It’s an interesting survival adaptation.

We bounced along a 4WD park road that runs right along the US-Mexican border. Besides the checkpoints on the main roads, we saw a few border patrol officers and some sensor emplacements to monitor the border. Interesting.

This part of the park had some abandoned mines, and we hiked in to see one that mined (primarily) copper, given the color of the rocks nearby.

We left a lot more that begs to be explored, so we’ve added Organ Pipe to our list of places to return to… a beautiful part of the Sonoran desert.