04-23-2025 Hikes

Got up early, sunrise here comes sooner. We wanted to see the sights in Saguaro NP before it got too hot, Ann's idea, and it was a good one. Had oatmeal and coffee to get things started, then we cleaned the site up and drove over to the visitor center. It wasn't open yet, but we walked around the little paths nearby, they were pretty decent. Next, we drove to the Bajada Loop, which is a 5-mile gravel road taking you into and around a dense population of desert vegetation. We stopped a couple of times, one for pics and the other to hike a short trail to a vista point overlooking a valley. After the drive, we stopped at another half-mile marked path to learn more about the desert ecosystem. Back at the visitor center, we listened to Ranger Brian tell us some more about the desert plant life, some pretty interesting facts. Saguaro cacti live for 150-200 years, have a woody skeleton, develop arms after a very long time, and have quite shallow root systems. A lot of desert plants are legumes, which was surprising to me. Drove back to the campsite after that and had a relatively big lunch, grilled burgers. It was hot there, no shade, so we decided to drive into downtown Tucson and look around. Parked by the old courthouse and visited the visitor center there, which was little more than a listing of things to appreciate about the city as a tourist destination. We walked to get ice cream, then headed back to the car and drove to the Pima County Fairgrounds. Got there right as it opened, and wasted some time trying to find the good stuff. We saw a very entertaining bird show by a lady who owns the camel dairy in Ramona, then we found the arts and crafts hall. It was more interesting that the vendor halls but not very sophisticated in the items on display. From there we headed to the livestock arena and learned something about how to show a pig in the ring. That was quite entertaining. The livestock hall had chickens, pigeons, rabbits, Guinea pigs, and goats, and that was also enjoyable. Finally, the reason we decided to go to the fair was the free concert by Switchfoot. Ann had seen that the fair was in town, with Switchfoot as one of the performers, and I found that it was on a night when we could go. It was a little chilly, since I had lost my hoodie, probably at the Saguaro NP visitor center. But the show was decent and not too long. We went to a Walmart nearby after the show and bought more ice and a new hoodie for me. Back to the campsite, some late-night food packing in the cooler, and then sleep.