May 8th - Tucson and Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park typical landscape

I arrived at our friend Liz Gluck’s home in Tucson yesterday – Sunday late morning. We spent the

afternoon and evening relaxing and talking. My drive along Highway 8 from Dateland was a breeze with very little traffic all the way. It has been much cooler with less wind and dust since Sunday morning.

Today we visited Saguaro National Park which is in the Tucson Mountain District close to Liz’s home. This park, like Cesar Chavez, started as a national monument in 1933 on the east side of the City of Tucson. The western section, which we were in today, was added to the park in 1960.

Visitor center in the West District of the park

The park has a small visitor center and several nice trails and picnic areas that allow you to get up close with the Saguaro and other desert plants. The saguaro is the largest cactus in the US. Each tree is unique and seems to have an individual personality. My timing was good because it was a comfortably cool day and because the Saguaro is blooming. It’s pretty difficult to get a good photo of a Saguaro flower though because they are on top of the tree and typically at least 20 feet off the ground. One of the interpretive signs explained that a thumb-sized Saguaro could be several years old. They typically live 175-200 years and can grow as tall as a four story building.

One of the many irregular forms of the Saguaro cactus

We ate our lunch at the Signal Hill picnic area sitting under a Ramada that provided enough shade to be comfortable. While there I commented on the fact that each of the picnic sites was unique. Turns out they were built by the CCC between 1933-41. According to the NPS website, “The style and construction of the picnic tables are good examples of the NPS Rustic architectural style that was common at the time.”

Saguaro flowers

Striped shadow lines of the Visitor Center

Ironwood tree flower

Two Ocotillo plants frame the mountains in the background

Visitor Center architecture framing the mountains

CCC built picnic structure