Saguaro National Park: East or West - they're both great!
Both areas have a mix of desert floor trails and trails up into the foothills. The weather has been very accommodating - a high cloud cover has kept the heat down. It's a lot easier to hike without having to carry a ton of water. Getting up to hike in the morning has also meant that I'm catching a few more sunrises.
This hike was west of Tucson (west of Saguaro NP West) - lots of nice trails. On the way back to the car, we became unsure of the trail (it seemed like it was taking too long - we were starting to think we'd missed a turn-off). It got hilarious when we tried to identify our route by remembering odd saguaro's we'd seen as we started our hike. Believe me - there are a lot of odd looking saguaro's. Just before we gave up and turned back - we turned a corner in the trail and saw the car. Pretty funny (since we had lots of water and weren't terribly tired, it was funny rather than really annoying!)
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| A little elevation offers great views |
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| Not much cloud cover here - but not too hot either |
One of the best parts of this hike was an offer of a homemade meal by my friend, Amber. She made a vegan Pad Thai that was just super!!
Hiking Saguaro East
A few days later, Amber and I joined a new friend of hers (Claire), for a hike in Saguaro East. Claire has lived in Tucson for a long time and was really familiar with the trail system on the East side. This area is criss-crossed by a massive trail system and even with new trail signs, required use of a map to stay on the route we'd chosen. One could hike here a lot without getting bored. Best of all, it's just minutes from Tucson!
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| Amber excels at spotting crested saguaro - this one is off to a great start (although a bit phallic just now) |
We saw some horse trailers at the parking area. I like that the area can also be used for trail-riding!
Trails led across the desert, down through washes, and (even though I didn't get a picture) up to a great viewpoint of Tucson from Pink Hill.
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| Add particularly lovely wash! |
And, at the end of the day, more colorful sunsets!
What a beautiful picture of the sunset reflecting on your home. Love the picture of the crested Saguaro.
ReplyDeleteThx! I love my little trailer.
Delete'Cresting' is such an interesting mutation. I've seen several bizarre saguaros and organ pipe cactus.