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| Tessa's new favorite guy Donny |
At 38 degrees we waste no time packing up and heading out at 8 AM. The anticipated construction traffic on I-10 holds us up less than 20 minutes so we manage to beat the storm to our site back at Justin's Diamond J east of Tucson. The skies are dark and dumping lots of rain to the north, but we get set up with the heaters on before the wind and rain arrive. Not much rain after all, but we stay in, take a nap, and get the laundry done.
After sleeping in we set out on a new route for the first time since leaving Santa Clarita a couple weeks ago. Highway 86 is 110 miles of two-lanes through open desert, prairie, Ironwood, and the occasional Saquaro.
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| Wonderful to be back on "new" roads |
Through the little town of Ajo ten miles later, we find our RV Park - Ajo Heights. It is extremely well maintained - more so than the businesses we passed to get here. Our site backs to the desert and is very large. Our hosts, Bob and Carol, are friendly and make us feel welcome immediately.
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| For those who don't know where Ajo is...... |
We're in Ajo to visit the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It is an area neither of us have ever seen, we don't know what to expect.
I'm hoping to find my first Crested Saquaro, and maybe the even more rare Crested Organ Pipe. It's 49 degrees when we leave Ajo after a very good breakfast at Marcela's Cafe. It is a 22 mile drive to the visitor center.
A few miles before the center I think I see a Crested Saquaro a short distance from the road! I'm so excited heading across the desert, I'm actually giggling - there might have been some "happy dance" steps thrown in there too :-)
Across a small wash and there it is!
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| Even more incredible in person! |
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| Keep looking up, even when you're down! |
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| Simple, very nice center. |
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| The story of the area told by the seasons. |
The rest of the day we spend on the Ajo Mountain Road Loop. 21 miles of one-way dirt road, and we're back to more "wow's" at every turn! The variety of cactus is unique to the area.
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| A trio of supportive Saquaros |
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| Colorful Buckthorn |
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| Cholla chains |
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| Prickly Pear and Ocotillo |
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| Saquaro and Organ Pipe share this park in abundance |
We stop for lunch below the double arches. We've only seen one other vehicle at the very beginning of the drive, and one border patrol helicopter makes a few passes. Otherwise only bird calls break the complete silence here. Bill spots a bright red bird in a Palo Verde tree. Too quickly it flies away and I don't get his picture - he was SO red!
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| Sweet spot for lunch |
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| The top arch looks fragile from here |
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| More hole than arch |
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| Bill sees this giant sphinx on the side of a hill |
It dawns on me as we look out across the valley to Mexico that just a few months ago we were looking out across the water at Canada. What a life this is!
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| Mexico in the distance |
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| How to stand out in a crowd |
Organ Pipe is so beautiful. We haven't been in a couple years but a place like that is certainly worth visiting again and again. All these new trails are great adventures for you.
ReplyDeleteNew is definitely fun, but we look forward to coming again.
DeleteThe very red bird was probably a Vermillion Flycatcher male, the female is light brown with a peach belly...gorgeous little birds!
ReplyDeleteWe are probably heading to this place in late March, thanks for the preview!
Thanks for the ID - he was so beautiful. Should be beautiful with everything in bloom while you're here. Several of the trails are permanently closed off the loop drive, but there were a couple still open, including the one to the arches which is short but steep.I would definitely stay at this park again.
DeleteSmall point, but Justin's Diamond J is actually West of Tucson. Clarification just in case anyone is looking for it on the East side of Tucson.
ReplyDeleteHave fun out there.
Weird but right! We drove east through Tucson to get to the park and I didn't realize we then backtracked so far west on Hwy 19 :-) Thanks for the correction!
DeleteYou're becoming quite the cactus expert and your photographs are really great. Love love that close of picture of the crested. Looks like a place we would love to stay and stay unless there are too many closed trails to make at least a week of it. How many days can you boondock with a residential fridge which I assume you have?
ReplyDeleteYes we do have the residential frig but we don't boondock yet - 'til we have solar. In WA we did dry camp at the county park for four days and did okay with the generator, but hate running it too often :-( Once we have solar we would love to stay at the Organ Pipe campground. Today we found several open trails not far from that campground so I think you could fill a week for sure. Cactus seem easier so far than trees :-))))
DeleteWe stayed at Organ Pipe NM last January for the first time and loved it! You'll enjoy staying in the campground when you return -- it's spacious and peaceful and the hiking trail from the campground is an easy and lovely walk through the cacti. We also really enjoyed that gorgeous scenic loop drive, and the hiking trails off of the loop. Your crested saguaro photo is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThe ranger at the VC said it's the nicest campground he's worked in many years. We were blown away by the landscapes back in those mountains!
DeleteThe crested saguaro are rare finds unless your name is Pam...she finds them all! I have only seen an organ cacti once and that was at the Desert Museum in Tucson. They are quite showy! The saguaro remind me of cartoon characters I watched years (and years) ago...I expect them to start waving, dancing and moving around! So much beauty in the desert. And if you haven't seen a saguaro in bloom, it's a must see!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy.....
I think she may have seen them all :-) As you're driving through so many of them on this loop, I swear you see them "acting out" from the corner of your eye!
DeleteHow exciting to be on new roads :-) I agree with the other comments: the close-up photo of the crested saguaro is a great one. Good luck with the steps. Yuma is full of RV repair shops and hopefully you find a solution.
ReplyDeleteThanks Renee, it was a beauty! And yes, we have steps again :-))
DeleteBeautiful. Thanks for the write up. We are looking forward to visiting here in Feb. Love those cacti!
ReplyDeleteWeather should be ideal. Be sure to pick up the "not so junior ranger" book first - then do the Ajo Mountain loop. There is a section that lists all the cristates (crested) saquaros on that route, and the organ pipe one too (we missed all of them because we didn't have the book).
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