Spring in the Horse Latitudes Hare Moon
After the workshop ended at 4:30 pm, I got in the car and headed east on Speedway, then north on Carmino Seco and after that ESE on the Old Spanish Trail. It’s pretty curvy so it might really be an old Spanish trail. My aim was to make the eastern chunk, the Rincon Mountain section of the Saguaro National Park, preferably before the visitor center closed. I wanted a book or two cacti.
Missed it. They were folding the flag when I got there, but the scenic loop, an 8 mile one way drive through a portion of the park stayed open until sunset. I knew that and it was the other reason I went.
As the sun set, I drove slowly around the loop, stopping frequently for photographs and looking around. This is the Sonoran desert, the driest desert in the U.S. and one of four deserts that have some portion in Arizona. At several pull-outs I exited the car and stood looking across the valley floor where the saguaro, in their oddly human way stood embracing each other, cradling children or watching over them. There seemed to be roughly equal distances around the big ones, as if, I thought, they had territories to defend.
There were streakies and jack rabbits with their thin erect ears. This was evening and the critters had begun to come out for their daily life. It cools down quickly and the contrast with the heat of late afternoon is evident.
I’m so glad to have my energy back after fighting that damned cold. After the park I found a Mexican restaurant, not much of a feat here, and had a wonderful dinner for $13.00. Leftovers in the fridge.