Saguaro National Park has two districts, Tucson Mountain District and Rincon Mountain District, with the city of Tucson right between them. Since the Tucson Mountain District has the larger stands of saguaro cacti, we decided to visit that district today. We headed up I-10 West, got off at Speedway Boulevard and then took Gates Pass Road into the park. We began seeing more and more saguaro as we headed up the mountain.
They surrounded some of the houses like trees in a forest.
We finally reached the entrance to the park...
...and drove to the visitor center to get some information about scenic drives and short hikes. We also watched a 15 minute film about saguaros. At the end of the film, the screen raised up and the curtains parted to give a spectacular view of the desert.
After leaving the visitor center, our first stop was at the Desert Discovery Nature Trail -- a half mile paved loop trail.
Some of the saguaros grow very tall -- between 40 and 60 feet tall and can weigh up to 6 tons!
However, in the first 8 years of their life, they only grow about a 1 to 1.5 inches a year. We saw a lot of baby cacti growing under the bushes in different places along the trail.
Like Big Bend, we have been blessed again with cacti blooming everywhere including the saguaro cacti. The blooms on a saguaro open for 24 hours only...
...and the birds and bees know right when to get there to drink up that saguaro nectar.
A lot of the other cacti were blooming as well like this staghorn cholla,
This fishhook pincushion cactus was small and hidden underneath another shrub but its pink blooms were bursting with color.
The pencil cholla cactus is a spindly-looking cactus and almost appeared dried up,
but it too was blooming with yellow leafy flowers.
And the now familiar prickly pear cactus were everywhere...
...with their yellow flowers bursting open on some of them.
The average life span of a saguaro is 150 to 175 years but some biologists believe that some may live over 200 years.
We saw the saguaro at all stages of their life but even in death their wood is a beautiful hiding place for little animals.
 |
| The limb of this saguaro is still alive even though the trunk is splintered and dead. |
We noticed that the limbs on some of the saguaros would be sagging down rather than raised up making them look kind of droopy. We found out from a local resident that a frost is what will cause the limbs of a saguaro to limp or sag down.
The saguaro does not begin to produce branches until they are 50 to 70 years or age so this guy must be a young 56 or 57. :)
The saguaros begin to produce flowers as young as 35 years of age and then produce them the rest of their live.
We figure this guy is just a youngster. He's just a little shorter than Chuck so that would make him about 5'8" or 68 inches high. If he grew 1.5 inches a year, he would be 45. He's just a teenager in saguaro years!
The saguaros have sharp prickly spines running lengthwise of their trunk and arms but the older, dying saguaros loose their spines.
We finished up the Desert Discovery Trail and headed down the Hohokam Road and found a picnic table with a perfect view. We did check around our feet for rattlesnakes, scorpions, and any other creatures we did not want to join us for lunch.
We had a spectacular view of the valley below, the mountains beyond, and all those majestic saguaros.
After lunch, we drove a little further down Hohokam Road to hike a short trail to the Valley View Overlook.
This saguaro looked like he was handing us a two bouquets of flowers...
...that were beautiful! Just a little to prickly to accept! :)
The sun was out high and bright and a little warm but not too bad.
In the film we watched at the Visitor Center, we learned that various tribes of Indians thought the saguaros were spirits of people. When you look at them standing tall scattered throughout the desert, it is easy to understand how ancient tribes may have thought the saguaros were spirits. These saguaros seemed to be having a big group hug. :)
O.K. Maybe we've been out in the sun a little too long! :) We walked past (or rather under) this dying saguaro.
We saw these lizards several times on the trail...
...who would sit very still and then suddenly raise their tail up like a scorpion!
We crossed a dry creek bed...
...and continued our hike out to the Valley View Overlook.
And when we reached the overlook, it seemed like we could see forever with saguaros dotting the landscape.
After enjoying the views for a few minutes, we headed back to the car passing by this tall stand of saguaros.
I call the three in the middle The Three Amigos. :)
After we got back in the car and drove further out Hohokam Road, we passed by this balanced rock...
...and this dead saguaro that looked like it had an arrow driven through it.
Chuck said he thought this saguaro looked like it was praying.
We saw this little quail on the road with his little tuft on top of his head.
Our last stop for the day was Signal Hill.
We walked to the top of Signal Hill and found petroglyphs from native Indian tribes from over 10,000 years ago.
From here, we took in our last scenic views of the mountains, valleys, and those wonderful saguaros.
The best news of the day was when we returned to Lazydays and Ken and Bonnie found out that their slide-out had finally been repaired. Yippee!!! :) A great first day in Arizona!
No comments:
Post a Comment