Tuesday, January 29 Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Tuesday dawned a bright and sunny day, but with a little chill. As the sun made its way higher in the sky, the air warmed. We decided to hike to the old Victoria Mine which was a 4.5 mile round trip. There were several benches on which to rest and view the desert sceneryAll along the path there were chain fruit chollas or as many people call them, jumping chollas. These chollas are the cacti with the light green color in the background of the next picture.
You can see how they get their name in the next picture. The fruit just jumps off and lands wherever it wants. Several times Bob was the receipient of jumping fruit. He said it didn't hurt going in, but he sure felt it when Joyce pulled it out.....

As we approached the mine we could see the remnants of an old house.

It had a wonderful view of the sky and even a bathtub!
The mine was active from the 1880s until the early 1900s. This mound of dirt was taken from the mine in the quest for valuable minerals and ores. Over $120,000 of gold, silver and copper was mined during that time.
The mine re-opened in 1941 for metal that was needed for WWII.

We didn't see many animals during our hike as most in the desert are nocturnal. Bob was able to get a picture of this lizard before it scurried away.

We were the first on the trail Tuesday morning, but we passed other hikers as we returned to camp. It was a pleasant hike through the Sonoran Desert.

Later in the day we walked the desert view trail which was another 1.1 miles. We had a great view of the campground and the surrounding desert.

Before dinner we realized that we had not done a toast in a while so "Here's to retirement!"