Saguaro National Park West – Tucson Mountain District

I thought I’d seen a lot of saguaros in the Sonoran Desert, but Saguaro National Park is a forest of giant cactus people.

Sunset from camp

I arrived in the late afternoon so stopped first at the visitor center where I watched the orientation film and picked up my Junior Ranger book. Then I went to the recommended Gilbert Ray campground in Tucson Mountain Park for the night.

Great place with lots of private sites in the middle of the desert all with electricity for $20.

Hohokam Road

In the morning I returned to the visitor center to get my Junior Ranger badge and some information.

Ocotillo and Avra Valley from Sus picnic area 

President Franklin D Rosevelt first established Saguaro National Monument in 1933. Then in 1961 President Kennedy expanded the monument to include Tucson Mountain Park. In 1994 congress established Saguaro National Park.

Birds nest

Saguaro National Park is composed of two distinct districts, the Ricon Mountain District east of Tucson and the Tucson Mountain District to the west.

To many these giants symbolize the American West yet saguaros only grown in southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

Saguaros can grow to 50 feet tall and are the largest member of the cactus family in the US. They normally live for 150-200 years.

For a saguaro seedling to survive, it needs the protection of a nurse plant which provides protection from the sun and freezing temperatures.

Fishhook barrel cactus

I saw many of the parks 25 species of cactus along the .5 mile Signal Hill Trail.

Which took me to a rock pile with various petroglyphs left behind by the Hohokam people.

Imagine pecking away at the desert varnish to leave a message behind.

Looks like some modern folks decided to leave their messages as well.

There’s some very crazy cactus out there, but that’s for another post.

In the mean time, I had a Very important lunch date with fellow blogger Susie of Arabia at El Molonito in Tucson. We talked for at least three hours just like old friends. What a treat to meet this amazing woman who moved with her husband to his so culturally different homeland.

Elephants in Kruger National Park

“I want to see an oliphant,” said Samwise to Frodo.

Read all about the huge and stately elephant here.

New Camper

Ready to leaving Yarnell
I left Monday and drove to Quartzsite where Ron showed me the camper. Read more.

Elvis apparition

Big doings in Congress, Arizona today. Where except for a Dollar Mall and Texaco would be a ghost town.

Congress Trading Post
Maybe Elvis came out for the sale.

Actually, Elvis is for sale, but I didn’t ask how much.

Berta and I went to a couple yard sales in Congress and there's a sort-of flea market set up next to the Trading Post. I only spent $1 on a pair of old clip on earrings made in Austria.

Cut glass, about the size of a dime

Spring Fever

A 70 degree day in February makes me dream of spring blooms which you can see here.

What the...

...did I find in the desert?

Maybe this will help.

80-100+ year old Saguaros in front of Joshua-tree
The Saguaro, pronounced sah-wah’-ro, is the state flower of Arizona (sorry it’s not in bloom, yet) and is protected by law. It grows up to 50 feet tall, but very slowly, and the oldest plants could be 150-200 years old.

Joshua-tree, the largest of the yuccas at 15-30 feet tall, is iconic to the national park bearing its name in southern California. It also grows in abundance in Joshua Forest Parkway in western Arizona, not far from where I live. Mormon pioneers during the late 1800s named this species Joshua because its shape mimics a person with uplifted arms gesturing wildly as if to pray.

Here’s another interesting discovery.

Ocotillo, pronounced o-ko-tee’-yo, grows multi-stems up to 30 feet tall. Leaves appear only after rain then withers as the soil dries. The tip of each stem displays a vibrant red cluster of flowers. This cycle repeats several times during the year.

OK, now you know we’re in the desert, so steer clear of these.

Prickly Pear Cactus is one of the most common cacti found in the desert.

Highway 89 winds 2500 feet up Table Top Mountain in four miles
Note the prickly pear cactus in center foreground
I live at the top of this Yarnell Hill

I’ve admired this particular cluster of Saguaro many times on the drive to Wickenburg on Highway 89 at the bottom of the Yarnell Hill. Yesterday I finally stopped to take pictures. The close up idea was inspired by Joan at SAP

Oregon Caves tour (Part two)

For My World Tuesday click here.



Welcome back to Oregon Caves National Monument. If you didn’t leave the cave at the 110 exit then there’s about 400 more stairs to go. Click here for first part of cave tour.

Cathedral Arch

Caves actually get more beautiful with age.

Banana Grove

Niagara Falls

Up until 1886 Niagara Falls was the end of the cave. Then one day Walter Burch felt a breeze and found a small hole which he enlarged. He had to crawl through in his longjohns to get through, pushing his clothes in front of him and carrying a candle for light.
Walter climbed about 30 feet down a rope and crawled through the “blow hole” ....

Blow hole passage. Big stalagmite called the wishing post was once rubbed by every visitor.

...and found himself in what is now called Miller’s Chapel.

Miller’s Chapel

Named after Joquin Miller, also known as the poet of the Sierras, who helped the cave become protected in 1909. The “Chapel” part, because of a wedding.

Historic photo from NPS archives

Time to move on to the largest room in the cave.

Leaving Miller’s Chapel

The Ghost Room

Welcome to the Ghost Room, the size of a football field. Sorry no ghosts. From here we’ll be making a side trip...

Stairs up to Paradise Lost

...climbing about 90 steps round trip. You can pass on this if you want, but....

Paradise Lost

From the Ghost Room floor we are about 150 feet underground. It’s all uphill from here.

Angel Falls

Entering the Wedding Cake Room

We’re on the last leg of our journey and will be passing through more human blasted tunnels and natural cave.

Broken flowstone shows calcite crystal formation

Black bear bones

During reconstruction of the trail in 1998 black bear bones dating 3,000 years old were discovered. Many fossils of small animals have been found near cave openings. But the oldest bones belong to a 38,000 year old jaguar discovered not far from the Ghost Room in the early 1990s.

Exit tunnel and air-lock door

If we can just make it through this door we’ll see the light of day again.

Looking out cave exit

I’ll bet you figured we’d never make it out of the cave. We only saw about one third of the total cave, the rest requires much crawling and climbing. There’s three and a half miles of cave passages. So, do you want to go back in and crawl around?

Looking back at cave exit

My World Tuesday - The gypsy life of a seasonal park ranger

Desert sunset

Ah, the winter desert was beautiful to walk through and the sunsets were spectacular. Yet as spring approached I knew it was time to head back to the Northwest and return to work as a cave guide at Oregon Caves National Monument.

Oregon Caves tour (Part one)

Welcome to Oregon Caves National Monument. We are about to go on a virtual cave tour here.

The main entrance of four natural cave entrances

Cactus Anomaly

There are about 2,000 recognized types of cactus species in the world.  Read more.

Sky Watch Friday - Solstice Sundog

This photo taken Sunday on the way home from Prescott.

For more skies from around the world click here.