Nov 27, 2023 – Gila Bend to Tucson, AZ
Heading back out past the Solana solar energy plant we took notice to the huge fields across the road. It took a while for us to realize that the main crop here was cotton. We even stopped to pick off a small branch of the plant that was ready to harvest. We continued to drive past these immense fields for many miles. It’s amazing what farmers manage to tease out of an irrigated desert field!
On our way to Tucson we decided to revisit the western portion of Saguaro National Park. We have fond memories of our visit there while on our Tin Tent Tour in 2006 and wanted to refresh our memories. We started at the visitor center with its displays and video. A ranger then gave a talk about the human history of the area including the indigenous people of the Tucson valley who once numbered about a quarter million. The park area also has a speckled history of copper mining and was developed as a recreation area by the CCC in the 1930s.
The park celebrates its namesake saguaro cactus. The giant saguaro is the largest cactus in the United states and is the universal symbol of the American west.
But, that’s by no means all that’s there. It lies in the heart of the Sonoran desert and, with two rainy seasons yielding an average of twelve inches of rain each year, it is about as wet as a desert can be. That moisture supports a diverse population of plants and wildlife.
We then walked some of the interpretative paths to admire many of the varieties of cactus and other plants. Finally, we drove the Hohocam Rd/Golden Gate Rd loop through the park admiring the desert as it changed with elevation.
After another much needed car wash visit we headed back to Catalina SP, where the EKKO rally was a few weeks ago. We have a two-day reservation. Surprisingly, the campground is full on the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend.
Nov 28, 2023 – Tucson, AZ
We had two main activities today, the first of which was a second visit to the Golden Goose Thrift Shop. Yeah, it really is a neat place. We mainly recharged our supply of books to read and found a good deal on a brand new Dremel tool set which we’d been thinking about buying anyway.
The second was a visit to the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. This popular facility has a nice visitor center, lots of hiking trails and a road up the canyon that is restricted to walkers and shuttles. We opted for the shuttle ride to the top of the road.
On the return trip we got off and followed a canyon hiking trail back down to the visitor center. We saw nicer overall scenery from the open sided shuttle but the trail revealed many more details.
A couple of stops for groceries topped off our travels before we returned to the campground. Nice day!
Nov 29, 2023 – Tucson, AZ, to Hueco Tanks, TX
We took the I-10 through southern New Mexico and El Paso, TX, to Hueco (pronounced Waco) Tanks State Historical Site about twenty miles east of the city. We were signed up for a guided tour of the site the next morning. The site features petroglyphs and pictographs made by indigenous people as well as early settlers.
We tried for a campsite in the park but they were full. The ranger there suggested we try nearby Hueco Rock Ranch, a facility run by the American Alpine Club, mainly for rock climbers who want access to “the best bouldering on the planet”. Indeed, we saw that the area was dominated by huge boulders that would certainly make for challenging climbing. We chose a site in the “campground”, along a gravel road (path might be a more appropriate term) with occasional blue-painted rocks that marked places to park.
Not much of a campground but for $20 and only a mile from the site it was just fine.
Nov 30, 2023 – Hueco Tanks to Guadalupe Mountains NP, TX
Leaving Hueco Rock Ranch, we drove the six miles into the Hueco Tanks State Park visitor center for our guided tour. This is a small park that encloses four outcroppings of boulders that rise from the flat land surrounding it.
The name, Hueco Tanks, refers to the depressions within the outcroppings that catch and hold water when it rains. Hueco is a Spanish word meaning hollow and refers to the many thousands of shallow depressions that dot the surfaces of the boulders. Tanks refers to deep natural cisterns that pock the rock outcroppings. There are no natural springs or streams in the area but the water held in the tanks has helped sustain the people of many successive cultures that have populated the area for at least 15,000 years.
People who lived in Hueco Rocks left a rich trove of pictographs, petroglyphs, pottery, tools and other evidence of their presence. The park works diligently to preserve the historical record while simultaneously providing learning and recreational opportunities for people. Regardless of visitors’ plans, they are required to view a documentary about the park and receive a one-on-one briefing about the activities they are planning for that day. Visitors can do self-guided tours of only one of the four outcroppings and they are required to remain on carefully proscribed paths.
The park is also considered one of the best places in the world to pursue the relatively new sport of bouldering. It is a form of free climbing done without ropes or other equipment. This particular place is popular because the boulders mostly have a surface that shoes can grip as well as lots of shallow foot and hand holds provided by all the huecos. Climbers are required to receive permits as well as a briefing.
Our guided tour was lead by Phil, a volunteer at the park. We were the only two people who’d signed up for that day’s tour. Well, the tour was supposed to last 2½ to 3 hours but ours lasted five! Phil was extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the park including the geology, history, indigenous cultures and archeology. He was also an enthusiastic teacher.
The outcroppings are considered sacred by the many indigenous peoples of the area including special places that contain certain pictographs. The pictographs were mostly in out-of-the-way, very shallow caves and overhangs that early inhabitants used for shelter. Most had blackened walls from smoke over the centuries that had curled in from cooking fires outside the caves.
Reaching some of sites was pretty challenging. We scrambled across steep rock faces that were well outside our comfort zone to see some of the pictographs. Others were on the ceilings and walls of caves with very low ceilings.
Other evidence of habitation was everywhere. The ground near shelters is still littered with pottery fragments and parts of edged tools used for scraping and cutting. Everywhere were deep, round holes that had been used as mortars to grind nuts and seeds for food. Shallower metates were used for grinding corn and other grains. Much smaller depressions were used to grind medicines and pigments.
The availability of water didn’t attract only indigenous people. It also attracted animals. There is evidence of mastodons living here and smooth spots on narrow passages where they rubbed against the rocks. The stagecoach and wagon road used by the Overland Stage Line was also here. It passed right between the outcroppings and used the water source and shelter of the rock as the basis for a stop. Later, settlers purchased the land to use for ranching. There was even a developer who made a failed attempt to create a resort!
Overall it was a fascinating day. The history of the area and the pictographs were part of it. But the stories of the complex interactions of the various cultures who inhabited it over time enhanced our understanding of the importance of the place and what went on there.
After our tour we headed to Guadalupe Mountains NP to spend the night. It was a bit sobering when we were reminded, at an immigration check point, to check how much fuel we had. That was because there would be no services along the next 132 miles of the highway!
We camped in a site in Pine Springs Campground where we stayed some twenty years ago. It’s really just an extension of the parking lot used by day visitors who come to hike. There is only a bathroom and trash receptacles but it was just what we needed. The howling wind made for a chilly night but we were warm and snug.