Our original plan was to be back on the East coast for Thanksgiving. So, since we first arrived in Arizona, there has been a bit more tension and a need to rush. We have now been gone for over two months and the feeling of wanting a bed to sleep in at night and real healthy food to eat is starting to really effect our travels.
The day we had left the petrified forest is just an easy example of how our traveling has changed over the weeks. We ended up walking around the forest in the morning, by noon we had covered at least 100 miles of driving time, we were able to eat dinner after visiting Montezuma Castle and had been able to set up at the campground at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument that night.
Organ Pipe is the most South Western point in Arizona you can drive to before entering Mexico and since we were so close to the border we were constantly reminded of the possible dangers we could face. Every so many miles we would pass a border patrol station, we were only ever interrogated while traveling out of the park.
Never seeing such large cacti before, it was definitely an experience I will never forget when I climbed out of the little guy in the morning and watched woodpeckers flying around as the sun came up.
We knew that we really could not afford to stay in the campground another night so we decided to spend our one day at the monument by driving the two scenic routes.
Driving along cacti, some being at least two stories tall, we had to stop quite often for photos to be taken.
Thankfully this long scenic route is broken up by (in comparison to where we have been thus far) a small mountain range. A little reading will teach you that the mountain range is actually very important to the locals (both from the U.S. and Mexico) for spiritual reasons.
Other than the mountain range, the drive soon became repetitive. Regardless, I made myself get out of the car so I could find some interesting shots.
These two photos show the skin of a cacti after it has dried up and died. At first, this cacti skin looked to be an oversized snakes skin but after picking it up, the only thing similar to snake skin is the look. With a surprisingly heavy weight to it, these two pieces had a bark like texture that made it very solid as opposed to flaky and fragile.
Although the Pipe Organ Cacti were phenomenal, this monument allowed us to walk among thousands of prickly pear cacti. This type of cacti sits a lot lower to ground, is seen in large clusters, and has a very fun name to say.
Jason and I were able to amuse ourselves during the drive by trying to figure out what each odd shaped cacti looked like. The photo below was obviously an natural arch. I was happy I could capture three arches, the top Arch is there by only a thread.
I apologize to all the birders out there but this unnamed bird had the most melodic chip I have ever heard. It had been the only time this trip that I stood outside for close to five minutes just listening a bird sing.
Every once in a while I was struck and had to stop the car to take a closer look at a cacti. Looking out the car window and almost in a daze, I noticed a small cacti growing under a strange plant. Cacti, especially in the monument, can not live to their full height on their own. Since it's easier to obtain water, most, such as the one below, grow very close to other plants.
During the drive, there were plenty of long hikes to take that lead through the desert and up through the mountain range. Honestly, hiking through the desert doesn't sound pleasing to either Jason or I. The drive provided us with plenty of time and enough exploration through the cacti.
It was nice to break up the two scenic drives with the featured film at the visitors center. After the film and chatting with the rangers for a bit, we began our drive on the second scenic route.
it was during our second long drive through the cacti land that we saw a lot of red-tailed hawks.
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| The dueling cacti |
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| It wasn't until after this photo was taken that I realized the hawk sitting on the branch. |
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Since it is so different from anything I have ever seen before, Pipe Organ Cactus National Monument was definitely one of my favorite stops.
