Monday, February 26. 2007
Saguaro National Park
The Pueblo Chieftain Online has an article about Saguaro National Park. They write about the saguaros, the echinocereuses, and the petroglyphs too. It's close to Tucson (actually, it kinda straddles Tucson in 2 sections) so you can stay in a really nice resort, relax, enjoy the sunshine and the pool and then take a lovely drive into and through the park. The saguaro forests are spectacular. Although, we found the saguaro forests in nearby Ironwood Forest National Monument to be just as spectacular.
More after the break...
Thousands of saguaros (sah-WAH-rows), the largest cactus species in the United States, rise majestically from the floor of Saguaro National Park, a sprawling, 91,327-acre expanse composed of two districts separated by city of Tucson. Odd, human-like shapes and upraised "arms" give these cacti the appearance of immovable, indestructible sentinels guarding a spectral landscape bristling with spines, thorns, hooks and barbs....
(T)o survive, saguaro seedlings must be sheltered from the elements. The small percentage that reach maturity usually grow in the crevices of rocky outcrops or beneath "nurse plants" like mesquite, bursage or paloverde....
(T)he first buds of its branches or "arms" won’t even begin to sprout until after its 75th birthday. Saguaros that make it safely through that bumpy first century, however, can grow to 50 feet, weigh as much as 8 tons, and live another hundred years...
(T)o survive, saguaro seedlings must be sheltered from the elements. The small percentage that reach maturity usually grow in the crevices of rocky outcrops or beneath "nurse plants" like mesquite, bursage or paloverde....
(T)he first buds of its branches or "arms" won’t even begin to sprout until after its 75th birthday. Saguaros that make it safely through that bumpy first century, however, can grow to 50 feet, weigh as much as 8 tons, and live another hundred years...
More after the break...
(W)e glass the looming saguaros with binoculars, paying particular attention to dark holes in the trunks and larger branches. These are nest cavities, probably made by Gila woodpeckers and gilded flickers....There, perched atop the woody ribs of a dead saguaro, is a glossy black male phainopepla with its bright red eyes and long, pointed crest.
(W)e spot several cactus wrens amid the creosote bushes... At the summit, we’re rewarded by the sight of jumbled boulders decorated with dozens of petroglyphs.... The Signal Hill petroglyphs were created more than 1,000 years ago by the Hohokam.
What, you haven't been there yet? Well, don't let me stop you. Go!
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