Arizona Road Trip, 2023 – Birthday Mishap in Ajo, Adjust and Carry On!

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ajo, San Xavier del Bac Mission, Tucson’s Museum of Arizona, Saguaro National Park East, and Catalina State Park

March 11 – 16

On my second morning in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, I took an early morning walk on the Victoria Mine Trail. It was a fun trail that rose up onto low ridges and down into thickly-vegetated washes, and it’s where I encountered a very pretty wildflower with a very pretty name: Fairy Dusters.

I felt so good striding along, fit and healthy and so happy to be there on my birthday, and I made an impulsive decision to take a trip back into Ajo because the previous day I had learned that there would be a festival in the town plaza with food, music, and arts and crafts booths. Fun! So off I went, back north on that wonderfully scenic drive,

and sure enough I arrived in town to a bustling and colourful scene of locals and visitors enjoying a festival. I watched pairs of children and then ladies dancing traditional Spanish dances, complete with colourful swirling skirts, strolled one length of the arts and crafts booths, and then ordered a Sonoran hot dog which was advertised as a “bacon-wrapped hot dog with pinto beans, salsa verde, tomato, onion, mayonnaise, avocado crema, and cotija cheese.” It was going to take a while for the order to be ready so I visited the beautiful raptors on display by an organization that rescues, rehabilitates, and then releases (whenever possible) injured raptors. Sadly, I learned that many of the birds they help have been shot at! There was a great horned owl, a Harris hawk, and a peregrine falcon – all incredibly impressive and beautiful creatures (please click on each photo for a closer look if you like).

While speaking with the rescue volunteers about the similar work done by OWL in the Lower Mainland, I heard my name called for my food order so I started to rush over. I didn’t notice a section of uneven pavement, twisted my ankle and fell down hard. My right ankle immediately began to swell. Oh no! This entire trip was about hiking and driving, and I also immediately thought about the two long distance walks that I have booked in Ireland in June! Two gentlemen rushed to help me up, a festival organizer went to fetch some ice, and a kind U.S. Parks Ranger that was manning a booth nearby delivered my hot dog to me. I found a bit of shade to sit in, iced my ankle, and tried to enjoy my meal while a few tears fell as I worried about my trip. I had 12 kilometres of hiking, on two wonderful trails, planned for that afternoon alone!

I sat for almost an hour, then limped up another avenue of arts and crafts booths, determined to “enjoy myself”. I did chat with a woman, in her late seventies, who was selling earrings that she makes and after I chose a pair she asked me to chose another pair free as a birthday present. She is a nomad, living on Social Security alone, and travelling and living full time in her RV, saving money by mostly camping for free on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service public lands. I felt cheered up by our talk and her kindness and felt ready to attempt the drive back to Organ Pipe. Thankfully I was able to drive without too much pain and I returned to camp and spent the entire rest of the day elevating and icing my ankle, reading, and resting. That evening, I limped in the darkness (carefully, and with a headlamp) to the campground’s amphitheatre to attend an excellent ranger-led program on the flora and fauna of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Despite my mishap in Ajo, and worries about my mobility in the days ahead, I felt very grateful to be where I was, under a starry sky, learning more about the unique and beautiful landscape of the Sonoran Desert.

The next day I woke early, breakfasted, iced and elevated my ankle while I read, and then when I got bored I drove to the nearby Visitors Centre to access wifi, catch up on my email, and download photos from my camera. While there, I overhead the park rangers recommending the Ajo Mountain loop drive to visitors. This 21 mile scenic drive, with its two trails and 18 interpretive stops had been on my “to do” list for the previous day so I decided that I would go ahead and do the drive, without the hikes. I am so glad that I did! The well-maintained gravel road was not busy and I was easily able to stop again and again to walk a few steps, learn about the local flora, fauna, geology and human history from the interpretive guide, and photograph the mountains and cacti, including some wonderful specimens of organ pipe cactus.

I also met a few new wildflowers scattered in amongst the poppies and lupines including purple wild hyacinth, bright white chicory, and tiny rock daisies.

I did feel sad when I arrived at the beginning of the Arch Rock trail which is an easy three kilometre hike that leads enticingly into a canyon. I briefly considered limping my way in, but that would have been foolish so instead I dug into my cooler for some lunch and ice for my ankle and I had a little rest on my bed in the Toyota.

I continued on the loop drive and felt a little sad again as I passed the trailhead to the next hike, but mostly I felt so much joy, excitement, and gratitude as I took in the impressive and ever-changing mountain and desert views.

Back at camp, I spent most of the rest of the day reading and continuing to nurse my ankle, and I also went to the Visitors Centre again to look at their displays and browse through their books. There was still so much left to explore in this beautiful park and I made a decision to definitely return here again one day. In this last photo from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, I feel like the saguaros are waving to me cheerily and saying, “Goodbye, we hope to see you again sometime soon!”

The next morning I began the 150 mile journey east to Tucson on the wonderfully quiet and scenic Highway 86 that traverses south central Arizona, largely through the lands and several small towns of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Just south of Tucson, I stopped to visit the San Xavier del Bac Mission. A mission was first established here in 1694 by the Spanish Jesuit priest Father Kino, and the complex of buildings still standing today was completed in 1797 by Francision missionaries. Often called the “White Dove of the Desert”, the mission has continued to be an active parish as well as a place of pilgrimage.

Built of adobe bricks and stucco, the exterior is incredibly beautiful with its carved sandstone facade, balconies, and two tall Moorish-inspired towers. One of the towers was never completed which adds an usual touch of asymmetry to the church.

The inside of the church seemed very dim and surprisingly small after the bright whiteness and grandeur of its exterior. The main altar, with its gilded columns and many brightly painted statues of saints was undergoing restoration. I love the photo below, to the right, looking back over the pews towards the brightly-lit entrance door and up to the painted walls and dome of the church.

One of my favourite parts of the mission was this view of the mortuary chapel with its simple lines and sparse and elegant cactus garden.

From San Xavier del Bac, I drove north on the outskirts of Tucson to Saguaro National Park East, located in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains which rise to almost 9,000 feet. I drove the 8 mile Cactus Forest Loop Drive that winds through the park and stopped at each pullout and at the paved Desert Ecology interpretive trail. I admired a trio of fruiting barrel cacti (top right), learned about palo verde trees with their green trunks and branches (middle right), and encountered a new kind of cacti, staghorn cholla (bottom left). Near the end of the loop drive, I put on my hiking boots for the first time since my fall and carefully hiked the very short (1.1 mile) and easy Freeman Homestead Trail with its impressive saguaros, some of which reached forty feet high.

From Saguaro National Monument I drove to my airbnb in central Tucson, a small studio suite in a rather groovy Tucson home with a large walled and covered exterior patio just outside of my room. The original art in the suite was painted by my kind hostess who is a horse lover and owner.

I enjoyed some quiet time in my airbnb for the rest of the day and into the evening, and the following day I toured downtown Tucson (such a wonderful city! See the post here: https://christineswalkabout.com/2023/03/14/arizona-road-trip-2023-a-fun-day-in-tucson/). The following morning, I woke to an overcast day with rain just beginning to fall. Originally I had planned to do the Seven Falls hike in Sabino Canyon on my way to Catalina State Park but that was now impossible with my ankle so I decided to visit the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona. I was impressed by the campus with its broad avenues, stately buildings, and large mature trees, and it was fun to see the students heading to and from classes with their backpacks on and ear buds in – they could be on any campus in North America.

The Arizona State Museum is the oldest and largest anthropology research facility in the American southwest. Its visitor galleries exhibit a selection of baskets, pottery, jewellery and other artefacts that span thousands of years of human history throughout the southwest.

I was impressed by this fragment of finely woven cotton cloth, some of the threads dyed with indigo, that is dated from the years 1250-1500. Cotton was grown on irrigated fields, harvested, carded, spun into threads with whorls and spindles, and woven on vertical looms.

I took my time in the museum and watched several interesting and educational films on topics related to the indigenous peoples of the southwest, past and present, and to the research and conservation work done by the museum. I was very glad to have visited.

Then it was time to head about fifteen miles north, through the suburban sprawl of north Tucson and the Oro Valley to Catalina State park for two nights of camping. The rain was light, but I was cautioned by the park rangers at the entrance that I could possibly be stranded at the campground, depending upon the amount of rainfall over the next 24 hours, because access to the campground required fording a dry wash that could flood quickly. I decided to risk it, checked out my site, and then set out on a short nature trail that was up on a small rise. The rain had eased off but the poppies stayed closed, waiting for the sun, while spherical drops of water sat prettily on the lupine leaves.

I enjoyed views of the craggy Catalina Mountains, and I also found new wildflowers – the bright yellow and orange flowers of common fiddleneck and the tiny white flowers and bristles of Arizona popcorn flower.

My ankle was feeling better and was well-supported by my hiking boots so I decided to also walk the Birding Trail. First, I had to go barefoot to cross the wide but not deep Sutherland wash.

The sandy trail first led through an area of thick and verdant new grass that contrasted with the dark trunks and branches of mesquite trees not yet in leaf.

On a drier section of the trail, I spotted by first Arizona roadrunner! He is so well camouflaged. Can you find him in the very centre of this photo?

Here is another, much better view as off he goes!

Later I saw another roadrunner, and then another! Also on this walk, many small, fast, and unidentifiable (to me) birds flew between the trees and understory but I did see a brilliant flash of red, a cardinal, in a tree and then hunting for food on the ground. His bright red feathers almost glowed!

As I neared the end of my walk on the birding trail, the rain started up again in earnest so I made my way to one of several group picnic sites in the park and took refuge under its large shelter where I read for a while and then cooked up a hot dinner. This was my view of a double rainbow as the sun emerged while the rain still fell. I stayed under that shelter, tucked up in blankets on my camp chair and reading a great book, until darkness fell and then I readied my Toyota for sleep, drove to my site, and within minutes was snug in my sleeping bag, ready for the next chapter, literally and figuratively. 🙂

The next day, I decided to attempt the Romero Canyon trail to the Romero Pools, a distance of just over 8 kilometres return. I crossed the Sutherland wash and climbed a short steep hill to a wide path that crossed a small grassy plateau and lead towards the mountains.

There, the trail narrowed to a single track and began to climb past heaping mounds of brittle bush.

I loved being able to recognize all of my favourite plants so far: Ocotillo, purple phacelia, wild hyacinth, and pink fairy dusters,

And I found more new wildflowers (Clockwise from centre top: hop bush, owl clover, desert penstemon, and desert wishbone bush).

It was a fun trail to hike as it angled up and across the mountainside, with views down into a canyon. I was so happy, all alone here, climbing steadily,

and stopping every now and then to turn and appreciate the expansive views back down and across to the Oro Valley and the distant mountains.

My ankle was doing okay and my energy was good but then I came to a section that required a lot of rock scrambling. There was perhaps only about a kilometre left to go, up and over this saddle and down the other side, but caution told me that this was probably enough of a hike less than a week after my injury. Best to stop while I was ahead!

I headed back down carefully and then I alternated between resting my ankle and puttering about in camp until the late afternoon when I decided to walk part of the Sutherland Trail. There I found yet another new-to-me wildflower, the Desert Evening Primrose. So beautiful!

On the return journey to camp I walked onto the sands of Sutherland Wash. The lowering sun gilded the scene looking both upstream,

and downstream.

What a gorgeous place! Despite my recent mishap in Ajo, I was thrilled with my travels so far, and I was ready to keep on carrying on.