Wednesday, January 30 Still at Organ Pipe!

We are enjoying our stay at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. In the morning we hiked the desert view trail again--this time we hiked the loop opposite of our evening stroll. From the top of the hill we had a good view of the campground. The whilte rectangles in the background are rvs.We enjoyed the view from the top. We walked the steepest part of the trail first. This picture helps you see the size of saguaros and cactus pipes in relation to us. The saguaro behind us is about 60 years old--it doesn't have arms.
We saw dead saguaros. The Tohono O'Odham still use the spines from saguaros to harvest the fruit in summer. Birds also nest in them.

Animals also nest in dead organ pipe cacti.Wednesday afternoon we took the van ride around Ajo Mountain Loop. It is a 21 mile drive that takes about 2 hours as you can only go 15 mph.

Our driver pointed out many of the plants at the stops on the loop.
We drove through a young saguaro forest. The saguaro doesn't grow arms until it is between 75 and 90 years old.
Here is a mixed forest of saguaros and organ pipes. Organ pipes only grow a few feet in their first 10 years.

The lighter section of mountain behind us is called tough. It could have caves carved in it.Several of the people on the ride with us agreed that we didn't agree with the measurements on the plaque about the larger arch. It is said to be 36 feet tall, 90 feet deep and 720 feet long! We thought a decimal point was misplaced on the 720 feet!Saguaros and organ pipes can have a genetic mutation which causes a cristate. If you look closely at this picture you can see the cristate in this organ pipe.
This is a close up of the same cristate. It is a fan shaped stalk in the middle of this cactus.

The ride was enjoyable. We found several trails we would like to hike, but Wednesday was our last day at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.