Saturday, May 16, 2015

2015 Tucson: Saguaro National Park West (5/16/2015)

Saturday, May 16, 2015 (continued)
It was a short distance on Kinney Road from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum to Saguaro National Park West. At the Visitor Center we paid the $10 fee and were given detailed instructions on what we wanted to see. We then drove on the Bajada Loop Trail, a dusty dirt road.
Multi-arm saguaro (KAH)
The saguaro has been called the Monarch of the Sonoran Desert and is a major symbol of the American Southwest with its all too human shapes
Saguaro, opuntia species, and chollas
Saguaro blooms
We were lucky to see as many saguaro blooms as we did, a) because they bloom at night (actually they begin to open at night and last until the next afternoon), and b) they usually bloom in April with the fruit appearing in June. Actually the blooms can last April through June, and the fruits appear June and July. The saguaro flower is the state flower of Arizona.
Twisted saguaro
We took a side road to the Signal Hill Trailhead to hike to see the petroglyphs that are etched on the surface of stones.
These petroglyphs were created by the Hohokam.
The view from Signal Hill
Signal Hill
Two colors of blooms on one plant

Next: Old Tucson.

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