Saguaro Heaven

We hope you all will find the giant Saguaro as fascinating as we do.  This cactus is found only in the Sonoran Desert.  It is the Arizona State flower.

They can grow taller than 50 feet but, most top out at not much greater than 30 feet. 

The pleats expand and contract with the availability of water.  During dry periods they shrink accordion-like thus having less surface area presented to the sun - a  lifesaving ability. 

A 20-foot saguaro weighs approximately a ton.  Adult plants can weight 6-9 tons.

To take advantage of light rains the roots are shallow, 5" below the surface, but extend as much as 50' from the base.  A fully grown plant can gain a ton from a single rainfall - similar to how we feel after a too large meal,

Youngsters

A saguaro will grow to 15' in height before growing sidearms.  To attain that height usually takes 75 years or more.  The average lifespan is 150-175 years.  Some live over 200 years. 

Reproduction is difficult in the desert.  Frequently saguaro grow under other plants that provide shade.  Small animals often eat the seeds.  They are more likely to be overlooked hiding under dropped leaves and needles.  The plant that provides this shelter is referred to as the mother plant.

The interior has ribs that the Hohokam used for support and strength when building. They also used ribs lashed together to knock down the fruits that grow at the tops of the trunk and arms. The Tohono O'odham continue with this practice. From the fruits they make ceremonial wine, jelly and candies. The seeds feed their chickens.

Gila woodpeckers and gilded flickers drill nest holes in the saguaro. The injured plant then secrets callus tissue that hardens and protects it from bacteria and disease. When the work is done and the woodpeckers and flickers have abandoned those nests, many other birds including several species of owls use these holes for nesting.

After the plant dies and eventually rots the "boot" or callus tissue that has hardened into the boot-like shape falls out. This boot is on display at Casa Grande Ruins.

 

And finally, our last fact. A few rare plants, for unknown reasons, become "cristate". The tissue becomes confused causing the trunk and sidearms to fuse and grow as a single bundle. Statistics say there are only two in every million.

They're fun (and frustrating) to find. We'll have to see how many we can spot this winter.

This is number one.

Meanderings

Yesterday our morning forecast was for heavy fog until 9AM.  Come on - a joke, right?  This is the desert where humidity hovers in the single digits most days.  We didn't even head out until 9:30AM and guess what?

Yep, heavy fog!

By the time we stopped to air down the tires, it was beginning to burn off and to become another of the lovely sunny days to which we have become accustomed.

Perfectly beautiful area for wheeling - lots of steep ups and downs and loads of wiggles with more beautiful views around each curve.

My favorite desert plant is the ocotillo - devil's walking stick.  Here is a fence built using the "sticks".  Often when it rains these dead appearing sticks will sprout.

During dry periods the ocotillo drops it's leaves.  After a rain it sprouts new ones.  And, often a few days later, it will send out new buds and finally it will bloom.  This one has no leaves but has a bud ready to open.  The flower is a brilliant vermilion.

An old stage stop depot.  Note the adobe walls and the ocotillo fence in the background.

Vic decided we should check out Axle Alley - an extreme trail.  We parked and walked.  Oh, my!

 This is the final obstacle.  I can't help wonder who first decided this was driveable.

The camera can never quite capture how steep some of these hills really are - this one is a good case in point.

Coming over the top

We exited through Box Canyon - so colorful.

Today we headed out to the same general area.

Our first stop was at an old mine.  From the tailings we would say copper was the ore they were after.

The distinctive jojoba.  The leaf tips point up to the sun and the leathery leaves grow perpendicular to the sun. 

Typical desert nasty...

The tree is the paloverde and it is entirely green from....

the tiny, tiny leaves and the branches......

to the trunk.



Legend of the Apache Tears

The morning found us again near Superior, Arizona checking out some of the back country in that area.  First we found historic wagon tracks. 

These tracks were made by ore cars when silver mining was at an all time high.

Otherwise it was just a nice morning with pretty views.....

followed by a peaceful place to eat lunch.  Note the leaves of the cottonwoods and desert willows have changed into their golden fall color.

In an earlier post I mentioned Apache Tears Mountain and the story behind it.  For a refresher, the U.S. Cavalry and 77 Apaches were involved in a skirmish in the 1870s.  Not willing to be captured and face defeat the Apaches rode their horses off the cliff. 

This is the cliff.

When the Apaches loved ones learned of the tragedy, they cried. The legend goes  when the tears hit the ground they turned to stone.

Now Apache Tears are sought after collectibles and Vic and I spent most of the afternoon as modern day prospectors.

Success!

And more success!  Some we found embedded in the rock. 

Today's efforts.

Apache Tears are very pretty translucent obsidian nodules.  We have read the only place they can be found is in the Superior (Apache Leap Mountain) vicinity.

They are considered to be good luck stones and, if you are given one, you have been given GOOD LUCK to carry with you forever. 

Pinal County Historical Museum

We spent a few hours the other afternoon learning something of the history of this county and Florence, the fifth oldest city in Arizona.  I took a few photos of items that were of special interest to me.

Leather Apache playing cards - double click if you wish to read the identifying information.  They are quite rare.

Furniture made from cholla. 
These pieces were lovingly crafted.  Seeing the small pieces made me wish I had some woodworking skill.

Aren't they beautiful?

This set was made in the 1930s from saguaro.  WOW!  Absolutely stunning!

This display was a bit sobering.  Nooses are displayed in these cases with the photo of the man who was hung with that noose.  They are men who were hung here at the Arizona Territorial Prison with the picture of the man who was hung with that noose.  Another case has their photos with a list of what comprised each man's last meal.  One woman was hung.

This is a display of manganese glass that I took for my friend Lucy.  Prior to 1915 manganese was used as a clarifying agent in the production of glass.  When exposed to sunlight for long periods the glass turned this pretty shade of purple.

Outside is a collection of farm equipment and this windmill.

A vintage cotton picker.  The workings that actually harvest the cotton can be seen here.