Saguaro National Park

The first thing you notice driving into Arizona from the east is cactuses. BIG cactuses. This is the northeast corner of the Sonoran desert, an entirely different and much more varied ecosystem than the more barren Chihuahuan Desert of west Texas and northeast Mexico.


The Saguaro is the big cactus that one typically thinks of when one thinks of the southwest. What I didn't realize was how big these things are, thirty feet high and more. They dominate the landscape and loom large in native mythology so it's no wonder that the National Park takes its name from them.


This was a 'volunteer vacation' that I signed up for while I was still in Port Arthur back in January. My hope was to get an introduction to hiking in the desert west and see how the National Park Service rolled when it came to doing trails.

It turned out to be pretty fascinating going from dealing with the desert to really taking an interest in it and coming to enjoy and appreciate it.

(Click on Title Bar for More Pictures)