Saguaro National Park

Seems like forever ago that I’ve written here. So much has happened in these last three and a half months since my last post about the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in early November.
Since then, I went to Saguaro Nat’l Park and then spent nearly two months visiting family and friends (a separate post about all that to follow).
Right now I’m in Colorado, house- and cat-sitting for an old friend for the next few months. Finally, some time to sit down and put up a post….

There are saguaro cacti all over southern Arizona but the National Park Service sets aside about 91,000 acres for preservation. It’s very serene and a bit surreal.

The following picture is of a dry wash where water rushes through in sudden rain storms.

There were lots of bikers riding through the park. I can only imagine that this has got to be a wintertime activity. It must be scorching hot here in the Summer (recommended visiting times are between October and April).

It may not look like it but indeed, this was a steep hill.
This next pic was taken from an information sign in the park. They start out so tiny!

But they can get so tall!

They have been known to reach heights of 78 feet (nearly 24 meters) however, they average around 45 feet (nearly 14 meters) and can weigh as much as 4,800 pounds (nearly 2,200 kilos) when fully saturated after a rain. They’ve also been known to live up to 150 years. Pretty amazing plant.
There are plenty of other types of cacti in the park, which make for a very nice walk.