AZ & cactus, a prickly issue

We've been in AZ, specifically Picacho Peak state park for two months now, settling into a work routine and getting our bearings. We are in the midst of the Sonoran desert and surround by pretty much nothing but rock and cactus. At first glance, from the freeway from Phoenix to Tucson, it all looks pretty boring and desolate. As we've driven off the freeway, it becomes different and depends on the altitude as to what will be out there.

Picacho Peak is a unique point, part of an old volcano that has yet to be found. We are at Picacho Peak, across the freeway are the Picacho mountains and the freeway passes through, can you guess?, Picacho pass! Of course. The draw to the park is some camping, but most of all the trails. The popular one goes pretty much up the face, to the ridge, then on to the peak. It's 4 miles round trip, very steep and 3 1/2-4 hours. From the ridge to the peak cables offer the way to climb the steepness and the slick trail. This is the challenge for many people and great training. Some people come to "run" up. The peak is attainable from the backside also, a gentler trail, longer, 6 miles round trip, but you still end up at the cableways.

A unique bit of history, the peak was the western most battle site of the Civil war. A small skirmish occurred here and these days a reenactment is done every March. March is also flower time and the fields will be covered with blooming spring flowers, mostly Mexican poppy. Like watching the leaves change colors in New England, people will be watching for the flowers here.

So on to cactus. It's somewhat interesting learning about the different types, adaptability to the climate and uses. Cactus are put into different classes, just as trees and plants are. There are barrel types, Cholla (choya), prickly pear, and in a class by themselves saguaro (sawahro or sagwaro). The type we're all familiar with is the prickly pear type, they can be very small, and the fruit at the top can be eaten, juiced and cooked.

prickly pear

 so soft

fish hook 

Cylindrical or barrels are all sizes, either clumps together or larger single barrel. All have needles of course, and they are not soft and the big one here is the fishhook cactus. The hooks are very tough and were used as such for fishing by the natives. Look at the edges of the cactus to see the hooks in profile.

Cholla

The cholla type is a segmented type, more of a tree and branches. There is the teddy bear cholla, looks soft and cuddly but definitely isn't. The jumping cholla sends off small chunks of the branch, the needles stick in the ground and viola, a new cholla will grow. The ground can be littered with the offshoots, even the trails, a hazard to walking dogs. The prickly pear is also a segmented type.

The saguaro is pretty unique. It is shallow rooted and fluted and when it gets a lot of water, the flutes swell and it's a storage tank. They seem to grow  between specific altitudes and some places it seems like a forest. Arms will grow after the cactus is 50 years old and overall they can be over 150 years old. They can also grow very tall.  How many arms it grows indicates how much water it may have gotten. They provide homes, food and shelter for the desert animals, even when they fall over and die.  When birds build a nest, they dig out the outer shell but don't harm the interior core. A scar forms around the bird hole and seals the shell up. A special type of saguaro is the Organ Pipe cactus and there is a national monument on the southern border just for them. The saguaro is the state cactus and protected in Arizona.

Farewell Escalante (For Now)

Our time at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park is drawing to an end.  For our first camp hosting experience, I don't think we could have picked a better place.  We have both truly enjoyed our time here and will miss the park and the people.  It was so nice here that we've already put our names in to come back in May and June 2012.

 

New firewood shelter

Kendall, the park manager, has kept Bill busy with projects around the park.  He got to play with weed eaters, tractors, chainsaws, pull weeds,  build up pathways. A wall was built to enlarge a campsite with the help of  our son Kyle. When he came to visit, he and Bill laid out the stones for a retaining wall. Kyle prepared, leveled and laid the first course and then the rest was easy. A spare roof was erected at an old site to provide shelter for the fire wood. And it was moved closer to the host site to better monitor the selling. Firewood sales are on an honor system, but not everyone is honorable. Bill also got to drive the tractor and practice road building and repairing skills.

Gail, meanwhile worked in the office, telling people about the day hike to the petrified forest, checking in campers and office stuff.

Red Canyon

We also enjoyed the area on our time off with some hikes along river canyons, into some slot canyons, hunted for strange rock formations called Moqui marbles, and rode some 4 wheelers. Plus a few trips to the "cities" to pick up company (all the way to Las Vegas) and do Walmart/grocery runs and liquor stores in Nevada. Although the drives are long, the scenery is beautiful and varies between colorful rock formations, valleys with wide vistas, up into the mountains with lakes and pines. There is so much to explore here it would involve moving here to really take advantage of it. My favorite is Red Canyon, along hwy 12. After driving along high desert scrub, you are suddenly in a red rock canyon with plenty of large formations. It's stunning.

So, we leave Utah for now and head to our winter assignment, Picacho Peak state park, between Phoenix and Tucson and see what's in store for us there. Till the next blog.

This is the place- Utah

We've been hosting at the Escalante Petrified forest state park, in southern Utah, for a month now. This is a small campground, 22 spots, sitting on a reservoir, nestled into the colorful red and white cliffs. The scenery is beautiful, the weather just about perfect, and the park employees are very easy to work with and very nice. The town is 2 miles by scooter away, a very small town with 1 grocery store, a couple of outfitter companies, gas stations and 2-3 restaurants or cafes, but pretty much closes right up on Sundays. The only fast food is Subway.  Not knowing what the town had in the way of "supplies", we stocked up on staples and dry goods and hoped for the best. It's been pretty comparable in prices and is good for a few fresh items you can't stock up. Gas prices are the same too.

Grosvenor Arch

Our "work" is pretty easy, Bill cleans up campsites, weed eats the grounds and other projects. He helps people all evening coming in for sites. I work in the office, greeting the day users, getting campers into sites and office things. Not too tough.

Small box canyon

The park is very popular too and the campground is full to overflowing every night. The day users hike up the hill to the petrified forest and see an old forest, now petrified rock and the colors are brilliant.



The entire area is just an ongoing breathtaking wonder. Bryce Canyon, Zion and Kodachrome National parks are close and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National monument covers the entire half of Utah to the Arizona border. This is the land of slot canyons, rivers and washes to hike down, slick rock to walk on and just amazing views. So on our days off we've tackled a few of these hikes. We've hiked up the Escalante river to a natural bridge, driven over the Hell's backbone road, very steep, twisty dirt road. This climbed to over 9000 ft and had some steep canyon views. These hollows have the appealing name of Death hollow, very inviting to hike into!

Canyon walls have pictograhs and petrographs and occasionally some ruins.

100 hands pictograph

We've driven down some very rough dirt roads to access the slot canyons. Some we had to turn around on and never got to the wash or canyon. The most popular hike, Calf Creek, was a flat walk 3 miles into a waterfall. But along the way is the large pictograph, grainery ruins high up on the cliff, and creek scenery.

There are some canyons we'd like to do but are either too long of a hike or down off one of the worst roads we've ever been on, Hole in the Rock. I've renamed it Holy Crap road. It's just bone jarring washboard, ruts, sand washes and plain miserable. And there are 57 miles of it! Some of the better hikes are about 30-40 miles down it. So unless we have a 4 wheeler, we're sticking to places we can get to on the scooters or paved roads.

Pictograph on Calf's creek

We did make a run to Las Vegas, twice, to pick up some family visiting and also did some real shopping for groceries, a beer run at a liquor store in NV (cheaper and not 3.2 beer) for several people and got to see our youngest son. The drive over some of the mountains here was just as pretty as  the canyon drives. We probably won't venture out for shopping though till we leave at the end of Oct.

Willis creek slot