Yesterday the Desert Explorers Wed. hiking group set out to hike a loop trail at Saguaro West National Park. We have had nice warm mid 70s days for the past several days but it is still around 40 in the mornings but the sun heats things up pretty quickly after it comes up. We start out in coats but can work up a good sweat by the time we end the hike. We car pooled and headed out. About 1/2 way down the road between the highway and the road through the park, we saw a big beautiful coyote cross right in front of our car. What a treat! I was in the back seat, so I couldn’t get a picture. Shucks! We turned off the paved road in the park onto a dirt road and headed to the Signal Hill loop trail. Signal Hill is a small hill where you can take a trail and stairs up in order to see great views of the valley and mountains in the distance plus watch sunsets. We took one of the loop trails behind Signal Hill for a round trip of 3.9 miles. Note my shadow! I wasn’t going without my camera!
This hike was just as pretty as the one last week. I learned something very interesting about the Saguaro Cactus. You would think that the big cacti just need the sun and a little rain out in the desert but the most important element is shade. I found that unusual but each new cactus grows up close to the bottom part of a desert tree. As the Saguaro Cactus gets bigger the tree may die off or remain small but you will see some kind of shade tree or bush really close to every Saguaro Cactus. Sure enough, we could look at the bottom of a small bush and see a tiny Saguaro Cactus beginning to grow. They call these shade trees the ‘Nursery Tree’. The first mile of the hike was down the wash (the area where the water flows during a heavy rain) before picking up the main trail which was mostly flat. We just had fun taking in the scenery, talking, and sharing other adventures. The cactus below looked just like a pitchfork! Even the birds were enjoying the morning sun.
At the end of the trail we climbed to the overlook on Signal Hill to see some pretty views. Plus there are some petroglyphs clearly visible among the rocks.
I was with a fun group in the car I rode in. We came out to the end of the dirt road, but we turned the wrong way and wound up taking a drive down a long dirt road to other trails. We turned around when we realized the mistake and dragged out the old GPS to get us out of the park! So now I can truly say I have been lost in the desert! Another great day with fun people and the great outdoors.
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