Tucson - Prickly

Saguaro National Park
"You'd better go strapped", Miguel, my sister's fiance, suggested.  His normally smiley face had turned dark.  We'd told him of our plan to take a hike through Saguaro National Park and he wanted us to take one of his firearms. He must have seen some very bad things during his stint in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department.  "It's the high season" he went on, referring not to cactus shooting but drug importation.  While he was fingering one of many padlocks on what I figured was his gun locker, I quickly led our small group to the car.  I'd never considered the possibility of running into drug mules in a national park but I figured it would be better to leave the gun play to the pros.

Dad, Delbert, Dodo and I took the short drive to the park, which abuts a mountain range east of the city.

We drove along a loop that circled the interior of the park, stopping from time to time to take short hikes.

I cannot say for sure but I think every plant in the park was some kind of cactus.  The Saguaro are obvious - they look just like the ones you know from the Wiley Coyote cartoons.  However, there are dozens of others varieties scratching out an existence from nothing more than two cups of water during the 10 dry months a year.

The birds love the Saguaro.  The peck holes into the trunks and set up shop inside.  In the distance, we spotted a large hawk sitting on top of one and Delbert bravely hiked towards it.  I was happy to stay on the path and watch.  He stopped about thirty yards short and froze.  The hawk put a stare on him that stopped him in his tracks and then flapped away.  He came back wide-eyed "that thing was bigger than I expected."

Some less fortunate cacti lay down on the sand and make themselves all too available for critters.  We saw many with sizeable bite marks.

We learned that Cacti have fruit.  They look like tiny pineapples and are hard to the touch.  They also have many more thorns than you expect.  Even if you are very careful, they find a way to get you.  Both Dad and Dodo were digging out little spikes from their pants and legs the rest of the evening and into the next morning.

After a few hours of hiking, the sun began to fade.  It was late afternoon and the chill came up quickly.  We made our way back to base, alive and well.  Tourists - 1, Drug Mules - Zero.