Saguaro National Park and Tucson, AZ

Saturday, February 6th, we drove to Tucson to take in the Saguaro National Park and the 8 mile Rincon Mt. loop.  On our way there, we entered Pima County.  J started singing about the Pima Native American Indian who joined the Marines and went to war...they called him Ira Hayes.

More bridge art and roadwork with one lane across a gorge made up our minds to travel this route west on a Sunday with less traffic and no workers to slow things down.

 

Here at Saguaro National Park, two seeds were planted in 1916.  In the Sonoran Desert, a saguaro cactus seed fell to the ground under a palo verde tree.  Maybe it slipped from the beak of a gila woodpecker, or arrived in the droppings of a nectar-feeding bat.  Before the seed could dry up, two rainstorms swept the desert.  Thus a saguaro cactus was born in the shade of a nurse tree.

 
Then on the east coast in Washington, DC, a second seed was planted when Congress passed and President Wilson signed the National Park Service Act.  This new law provided an agency to oversee 37 parks and monuments from Maine to Hawaii and to care for and develop these national treasures. These two birthdays became entwined in 1933 when Tucson citizens convinced President Hoover to include Saguaro National Monument the home of the now 10-inches tall saguaro cactus.  President Franklin Roosevelt transferred all National Monuments and historic areas to the Park Service creating the system of parklands we know today.  This year, 2016, they are celebrating their 100th birthday.

The saguaro has been called monarch of the Sonoran Desert, supreme symbol of the American Southwest.  Its a plant with personality and renowned for the variety of odd human like shapes.  The Sonoran Desert surpasses all other North American deserts.  It is one of the hottest and driest regions on the continent.  Summer temperatures climb above 100 degrees.  Less than 12 inches of rain falls in a year.  Plants and animals have adapted to survive.  There are a variety of other desert plants to be seen...25 species of cacti, Creosote bush, Mesquite, and desert marigolds.  In the higher altitudes one can find ponderosa pine, oak, and Douglas fir.  The desert blooms nightly from late April thru June. Blossoms drop by mid afternoon for the plants to bloom again nightly.  This brings bees and moths come to feed on the pollen and doves and bats feed on the nectar.  Saguaro fruit ripens in June and July.  This brings in the Javelinas, coyotes, foxes, squirrels and other rodents.

The barrel cactus is one of my favorites with its yellow flowers on top its head.

Here are some  prickly pears, plus.






The saguaro is like a multi-storied apartment complex.  The Gila woodpecker and  gilded flicker drill nest holes in the trunks and larger branches. These birds make new holes each spring (sometimes several before one is suited for their family) leaving behind old nests for other animals to move in. Some of these animals looking for a home are warblers, owls, martins, reptiles,  & honeybees.  These holes are also a retreat from the extreme heat.  Insulated with thick walls, the holes are up to 20 degrees cooler in the summer and 20 degrees warmer in the winter.  Some animals feed at different times of day...nocturnal cactus mouse and Western diamondback rattlesnake, morning/evening Gambel quail, roadrunners, desert tortoise, & Gila monster.  The midday jackrabbit dissipates heat from its oversized ears.  The kangaroo rat never needs to drink water as they get all their needs from eating seeds.

We took a nice paved walk out thru the cacti learning about the different things the desert has to offer.

Again, snow on the mts. and below are holes/homes for birds and other varmints.  20 degrees cooler or warmer...depending on the season.

                                   Birds make nests in the thorny cacti to ward off preditors.

While in Tucson, we drove by the Tucson Aircraft Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB. Their role in the storage of military aircraft began after WWII, and continues today. With the area's low humidity in the 10-20% range, meager rainfall of 11 inches annually, hard alkaline soil, and high altitude of 2,550 feet...this allows the aircraft to be naturally preserved for cannibalization or possible reuse. Aircraft from the Airforce, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, NASA and other government agencies are processed at AMARG.  It is the largest airplane boneyard in the world.  Another role of AMARG is to support the program that converts old fighter jets, such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-16, into aerial target drones.  Typical inventory comprises more than 4,400 aircraft.  WOW!

Last stop was Pilot for gas at $1.32.9 per gallon.  Sweet!

On our way back to camp, there were yellow train engines lines up for miles.  A sign of  a slow economy.

To sum up...the desert is a unique and interesting place we are going to enjoy exploring.  Until next time...take care...stay safe.  See you by the campfire.