01-30-2019 Organ Pipe NM and the Ajo Mountain Drive

Current Location: Organ Pipe NM Twin Peaks Campground Arizona
Partly cloudy and 55 degrees F at 9am


Our first night here was fabulous.  Dark and silent, with a cloud cover that hid the stars.  We did get lucky however last night, with crystal clear skies.  Around 4AM I woke and walked outside for a bit just to soak up the brilliance.  With no moon it was perfect stargazing time.  Funny, I thought of Al, because for the life of me I could not find Orion.  Usually the easiest one out there! One of the displays at the visitor center talked about the night skies saying that with so many stars it is sometimes hard to see the ones you are familiar with, they don’t stand out as much.

View from our east facing side of the campsite

View toward the west of our campsite at Organ Pipe

After a quiet sunrise, we enjoyed breakfast and coffee and computing at a leisurely pace before heading out for the Visitor Center.  The Kris Eggle Visitor Center is quite lovely, very well done, and the Rangers were extremely helpful and friendly.  We received our maps, checked out the environmental displays, and perused the tee shirts. Yes, I bought one.

Silly me, I hardly wear them any more but this time it was a “Advice from an Organ Pipe”.  I couldn't resist. I also couldn’t resist purchasing one of my collectible national park books and a great Falcon Guide to Sonora Desert Wildflowers.  I do love my flower books, and don’t remind me that I can always find stuff on the internet!

I have managed to keep up reasonably well with processing and uploading photos, writing blogs, and keeping track of finances.  So Far.  This morning feels a bit tight, however, but I know full well that if I get behind I will never catch up again.  The generator is running for a bit, charging the phones and computers, making a pot of good strong coffee, and of course, charging up the batteries.  That part really isn’t necessary since we will be on the road in an hour, but I don’t like to charge electronics with the inverter as we are traveling.  For some reason the voltage isn’t quite right.

After visiting the Visitor Center, we opted to spend our time driving the Ajo Mountain Road.  We spent about 4 hours or so meandering along, reading the great guide and enjoying each stop.  I had asked at the Visitor Center at locating cristate saguaros, and without much difficulty we found some.



I hiked up the hill to get a closer look and was thrilled by the carpets of Mexican poppies on the slope.  Of course, until I read my flower book I thought they were California poppies!



We also had fun trying to find the arches that were described in the Not So Junior Ranger booklet that we followed as well.  The dramatic Ajo Mountains are formed in fairly young volcanics, with lots of rhyolite and dykes and seams of quartz here and there. 



I did attempt to get a handle on the geology, but most of the information was either in books to buy on Amazon or pdf studies that required some sort of login.  No matter.  I can recognize volcanics when I see them, and this area looks a lot like the rhyolite volcanic rock that is in Oregon around John Day Country.

We learned that the Organ Pipe Cactus is all over the Sonoran Desert in Mexico, but here in the US it is rare, and only found in this area where it has been protected by the monument.  They are an interesting cactus, but for us not as charming as the beloved saguaro. We found a magnificent specimen of saguaro that was just begging to be photographed. 

After walking the Visitor Center Trail, where we learned about nurse palo verde trees that help the saguaros through their youth, we saw examples of them everywhere.  We also enjoyed seeing the various kinds of cholla, in addition to the familiar Teddy Bear cholla that we see in Joshua Tree and around other parts of the desert.

I especially loved learning about the ecology of the Sonora Desert compared to the other deserts of the Western Americas.  Such a lush, green, magnificent place!  The Ajo Mountain drive definitely added to our understanding of the symbiosis of plants and animals and weather in this part of the world.

This was probably the fattest, most perfect saguaro ever

We came home mid afternoon and took Mattie for a nice walk on the Campground Perimeter Trail, where she is allowed to walk.  After that little bit of exercise, we left her safely in the comfortable MoHo and took off in the Tracker. 



The Ranger had suggested the Senita Basin for lovely hikes and ecological wonders.  Driving south on 85, we turned west just north of the Mexican border and followed the very rough, washboard gravel and dirt road west.  We came close to a part of the border where there was a tall strong looking fence going over the mountain, but couldn’t see where it continued east along the lower valley floor.



As we rounded the road bend where we were adjacent to the border, we saw a low rail fence, more a barrier to vehicles than to people.  There were many border patrol vehicles around, some driving very fast, and I would pull over to let them by. 



Our hope for viewing the trails at Senita Basin were dashed by the extremely heavy dark clouds we saw hanging over the sky above the campsite.  Our awning was up, and we didn’t want it to break.  Besides, driving on sandy wash roads during a rainstorm isn’t very smart.  We gave up and turned around.



It was a great day in spite of the aborted Senita Basin trip.  We had a great supper watching another pretty but unspectacular sunset and the air was cool and perfect. Talking about our day, Mo reminded me of one of the things I love most about wild desert landscapes.  No Telephone Poles!  None in sight for miles and miles in all directions.  I think Mo saw one somewhere near the Visitor Center but I didn’t see that one.  Lucky me.

01-30-2019 Traveling South to Organ Pipe National Monument

Current Location: Organ Pipe NM Twin Peaks Campground Arizona

Mostly cloudy and 55 degrees F at 8am

Last year when we were on the way to Tucson, we decided to cut south from Gila Bend and visit Organ Pipe National Monument along the way.  We thought a simple drive through would be OK for this time around.  However, the charming little town of Ajo caught us off guard, and we spent many hours of our free time exploring the museum, architecture, and colorful murals.  By the time we were ready to leave, it was late in the afternoon, and we needed to get moving to check in at Davis Monthan Air Force Base before 5.  So much for Organ Pipe.

Thus it happened, that when planning this year’s route east, I opted for a couple of days at Organ Pipe.  Now I know several people, including Al and Kelly, who think 2 days at Organ Pipe isn’t nearly enough, but at least it is something.  This trip east is supposed to be a fast run to Florida, without all the meandering along the way that we did in 2014, so 2 days is actually a big deal for us.

Border Patrol is very active on Highway 85 entering Organ Pipe

We even decided on making reservations at the Twin Peaks Campground inside the monument rather than taking our chances with a boondock site.  When we have all the time in the world, wandering around hunting for a good boondock site is fun, but not this time.  On our way in to the park, we did see a ton of boondockers in the desert in the area before the park boundary.  Next time perhaps.

Then again, there is something very nice about this campground.  We are on an end site, number 70, in the area that allows generator use between 8 and 10 and then again between 4 and 6.  Plenty of time to charge up batteries for phones, computers, make a pot of real coffee, process photos and write blogs.  Surprising to me, I also have 4G Verizon reception out here in the middle of nowhere.  Perfect. However, there is no television reception with our new digital tv and antenna.  I suppose someone with a satellite would have wide open skies.  We won’t have time for TV anyway, but still wanted to test our new system.

Yesterday morning, we left Catalina about 45 minutes later than planned .  The brothers and wives came down to our site to wish us safe travels and with lots of conversation and laughter we found ourselves pulling out at neatly 9 am instead of 8.  We decided to take the I-10 route all the way east to Highway 85, and then south to Gila Bend. On our last two trips to the desert we have traveled past the Salton Sea and south to I-8 to cross Arizona.  Thought it might be time for something different.  Interstate 10 definitely is not exciting, but it is fast and mostly smooth and easy.  I didn’t mind that part at all. No dallying along the way, with a fuel stop at the Love’s in Gila Bend, and we arrived at our campground just after 5. 

I didn’t even try to get windshield photos during the time Mo was driving.  The desert is so beautiful, and it is amazing to watch the transition from the Mojave to the Sonoran Desert.  As Mark has mentioned, the Sonoran is rich and lush compared to the Mojave.  There is every shade of olive, lime, and soft sage green that you could imagine, with palo verde, mesquite, and the stately saguaros, plants that do not grow in the Mojave. Creosote is thick in both kinds of desert, but here in the Sonoran, with the recent rains it is especially lush.

Once we turned south from Why, on Highway 85, the desert opened up in ways that give your eyeballs a real workout.  The open, wild desert stretches from horizon to horizon as far as you can see in all directions.

The mountains around here are gorgeous.  Crazy wild things in all shapes that make them look like they are brand new, just emerged from the center of the earth.  They can’t be that new, since there are huge ancient alluvial fans spreading out in all directions from those mountains.  Still, I can’t wait to get to the visitor center this morning to get the skivvy on all the rocks and mountains and plants  and animals.  We have spent time in the Sonoran desert but not in an ecological wonderland like this.

Our space was waiting for us, with a nice little sign with my name on it.  It had been a crap shoot until last Saturday when at last the government shutdown ended.  Prior to that, we knew that there was no one taking care of the park, the visitor center was closed, and there were squatters in the campground.  Our prepaid reservation would have been worthless if the shutdown had continued to this week.

We were prepared for trying to level up on rough ground, worrying about the jacks sinking into the sand.  Imagine our surprise when we found a long, smooth, level cement pad waiting for us.  There is plenty of room to open our slide on one side and our awning on the other, and a nice big patio area and cement picnic table.

Mattie wasn’t impressed with the Pet Area

At sunset, I walked around the perimeter of the park, where there is the “Perimeter Trail” where dogs are allowed.  There are so many bathrooms here that I had a hard time figuring out where I was, but I didn’t bother checking them out yet.  The campground is about half full.  At six, the soft generator sounds stopped almost entirely, (always has to be one that pushes the envelope) and the park was incredibly dark and quiet the rest of the night. If you choose to skip the generator noise entirely, there is a large section of the campground that allows no generators.  We don’t have solar so we do need the generator.

As I returned from walking, I noticed a lot of people with their hoods raised.  Why would everyone be having car trouble?  Then as I looked at the signs at the restrooms, I saw the notice that there are pack rats in the desert that love the kind of insulation inside the hood of vehicles.  They suggested you could protect your vehicle from the damage by leaving the hood open.  I came home and told Mo, and we opened both hoods.

I think people who come this far out of their way to visit a desert must love the desert.  Unlike Joshua Tree which is so close to such a huge population, here it is an effort to visit.  I do think people who love the desert for something other than a place to run their 4 wheelers have a different ethic.  Nothing against all 4 wheelers, because I do know lots of good responsible people who love to ride in the desert.  I wish all people who had 4 wheelers were like them.  People here seem to be more intent on hiking and appreciating the environment, and treating it with respect.  So far at least.  That makes me very happy inside.

Love this baby organ pipe cactus by our campsite

We hope to learn and hike and drive and explore this lovely place today, and the partly cloudy skies and moderate temperatures are quite welcome.