Skip to main content

Day 26 - Saguaro

Saguaro was next on my list. Known for the Saguaro cactus, which I had just seen tons of in Aravaipa, I had low expectations. I was also dealing with a minor injury, a strained ankle/calf muscle. I was able to walk but with minor pain. One of the highlights of Saguaro was the park video-- it showed incredible photographs of the Saguaro cacti, desert animals, and scenery and the Native American narrator talked extensively about conservation and how we all come from and return to the earth. At the end of the moving slideshow hidden curtains quickly are pulled apart and the screen slides up revealing a beautiful vista of Saguaro hillside through the large glass windows. Very effective. 

I kept the hikes in the park to a minimum because the scenery wasn't that extraordinary and my left ankle hurt. Here are some photos from Saguaro: a Horned Texas Lizard, a Saguaro glamour shot and a petroglyph. (Pics 1-3) 

Around 1pm, I decided to push on and drive to my next stop White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. I only had eight days until my Escalante backpacking guided trip and I had four-five more places to explore. Make that six. Two hours into the six hour drive to White Sands I saw a sign for Chiricahua National Monument.  I remembered Chiricahua as it was in my maybe list.  A quick google search on my phone showed a scene of slender rocks similar to Bryce Canyon. But short on time and being an hour off the freeway I wouldn't be able to visit Chiricahua then continue to White Sands that day-- so I drove on. 

Luckily one minute later I changed my mind. I would never be in this position again-- in a far corner of the US and one hour away from what one person called "the hidden gem of the national park system". I pulled off at the next exit, turned south down a beautiful road and drove. (Pic 4)





Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward.  On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills.  Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising.  I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch).  After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch.  The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead.  The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics.  By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 42 - Escalante Stevens Arch

The Stevens Arch is so massive that legend says daredevil pilots would fly through it. I was excited to see it!  Having napped most of the afternoon, I awoke promptly at 545, packed up my things and hiked down to the Escalante River as the first morning light was pouring into the canyon. Hiking around more waterfalls and ledges and along the stream before anyone else was up was nice.  My written directions said to look for sandy hill to my right which led up to my only exit from the canyon-- the Crack-in-the-Wall. I ran into the confluence of the Escalante River, a point which my guidebook noted was passed my exit route, requiring a ten minute backtrack. This was fine though because I had tons of time and wanted to see the Stevens Arch.  I crossed the knee-deep Escalante River several times before the Arch came into view. Like a window in the Roman Colloseum, the Arch seemed almost engineered by man in this tall curving canyon wall. I hiked under the arch and couldn't eve...
Post a Comment
Read more