Pacific Coast to Atlantic Coast: Arizona

We claimed a spot amongst the procession of traffic driving east along the I-10 and promptly got buffeted around by the strong headwind. So we slip streamed behind a trucker doing a similar speed and this made our progress more comfortable.

We crossed the mighty Colorado River and entered into Arizona. At first we drove by hundreds of migratory Sun Seekers in their shiny Class-A motor homes filling the numerous RV Parks along the highway.

Then as Arizona’s iconic Saguaro trees began dotting the rocky hillsides I was happily transported back in time to our Havasupai hiking trip in the Grand Canyon.

Saguaro and prickly Pear Cactus

The closer we drove to Tucson the desert landscape changed to crops of harvested cotton and large areas of cleared desert vegetation with signs warning of “Dust Storms”.

Saguaro Cactus

Another sign took our interest and instead of heading into Tucson as planned we turned into the Western Saguaro NP. After loading up with information at the Visitors Centre we drove south and set up camp surrounded by rugged mountain’s covered in Saguaro’s.

Saguaro Cactus in flower

Barrel Cactus in flower

Before the dust from our tires had time to settle John and I started hiking up to the nearby Brown Mountain stopping regularly to take photos. We arrived back in camp just as the sun was setting and the temperature was dropping.

View from campground

We had decided to travel this southern route to escape the colder weather but somehow it found us. The temperature had been dropping each morning but we weren’t prepared for the crazy new low of 19 F when we poked our heads out from the bed covers.

Wasson Peak

We rugged up from the cold and spent the day hiking 2,000 ft up to Wasson Peak where we got a panoramic view of Tucson, Mt Lemmon and the Rincon Mountains to the East. The beautiful blue sky and interesting cloud formations helped take our minds off the cold.

The trail down from Wasson Peak

A few other hikers braved the cold and reached the summit around the time we did. As they headed back down we sheltered behind some rocks out of the wind and sipped wonderfully hot coffee from our Thermos.

We called into the Desert Museum after our hike thinking we could see all there was to see in an hour but once we got there we realised it would take a full day so we registered for another night in our beautifully presented camp ground.

Dude at home in the desert

We woke to 15.0 F (-9.44 Celsius) !!!!! a new record for Dude. This was well on its way to our all time record of 5 F while snow camping in the Sierra’s. We thought the day would warm up but we were chilled to the bone all day from the icy wind. Ignoring the cold we drove to the Desert Museum and on entering immediately began running to catch the remaining 20 minutes of the Raptors in Free Flight demonstration.

Raptors only feet away

It was awesome with the raptors swooping inches above our head from tree to tree, with the excitement we couldn’t wait for the repeat afternoon showing.

Barn House Owl

We then only had time to see a few other exhibits before setting off for the Gila Monster and Rattle snake presentation but as we were now chilled to the bone we stopped to buy a cuppa tea on the way.

Bobcat

Big Horn Sheep

Mountain Lions

Wily Coyote

Road Runner

The Gila Monster reminded us of our Blue Tongued Lizard…it also bites and doesn’t let go. We also learnt that rattlesnakes are sighted every month of the year in Arizona and here I was thinking it was too darn cold. We only just managed to see all the exhibits and animals as the Museum closed.

We drove straight through Tucson passing the Air Force Base and the vast Military Aircraft Graveyard to the Eastern section of the Saguaro National Park.

We did a leisurely drive around the Cactus Forest Loop with a quick stop for lunch. With thoughts of visiting Tombstone tomorrow we settled into a camp ground in the Colossal Cave Mountain Park just south of Tuscon. Dude only just made it along the very narrow entrance road.

Tombstone wasn’t what we expected as we drove in on the main road, it seemed like a very tidy ghost town but as we turned down a side street we came across the old town.

With childhood memories of Wyatt Earp the town today didn’t disappoint. They have managed to keep their town unique. It was refreshing to find that they have no chain food restaurants or “the same everywhere” strip malls in town,

Main street Tombstone

The streets were closed to traffic and we had free reign to amble down the street taking in the buildings, the in character gun totting cowboys, horse and carriages. We went for a very informative ride on an original 150 year old Butterfield stage coach....in original condition.