2020 Winter Camping Trip Day25, 2020/12/20
First time visiting Saguaro National Park!!! So exciting.
Saguaro National Park is in the area with many Saguaro as the name indicates. There are two regions: West and East sides. Between the two region is the city of Tucson. The Saguaro National park has an interesting setting. There is no car campground, but there are backcoutry designated campsites. You need a permit to do overnight backpacking and have to stay at the designated campsite. Permits can be obtained via Recreation.gov or walk-in at the visitor center.
We booked backpacking campsite permit a few days in advance. We got one at the campsite Douglas Spring. Although the campsite is close to spring as the name indicates, a lot of time of the year the spring is empty. Before we start backpacking we wanted to ask a ranger if 2020 winter's water situation.
The visitor center was open, but indoor area was closed due to COVID practice. There is an outside table and 3 volunteers were working there. There was a separation between them and visitors and everyone was required to have face covering. Arizona is doing well regarding social distancing. The volunteers were Tucson people and answering questions. They said there would be no water at Douglas. We were thinking about doing 2 night/3 days backpacking if Douglas Spring campsite had water source, but based on their comment we decided to do overnight backpacking as out and back.
At the trailhead we saw a person with a dog: he was told by a ranger at the trailhead that dogs are not allowed on the trail. There is huge national forest around Saguaro National Park, so he went there -> this is just FYI for readers.
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| Saguaro |
From beginning, we saw many Saguaro!! Some are tall, some are short. Some have a lot of branches, some have a tiny one. Everyone is different. Oh so wonderful to see Saguaros! Not only Saguaros, Saguaro National Park is full of cacti. It is a Cactus Forest.
Saguaro is a very long life. First 6-8 years it is only 2-3 cm. It takes 70 years to have a first branch. They reach the full height at age 150. It is very impressive. They survive in the desert with severe weather, lightning, drought, etc, a lot of things happens for 150 years.
Surprising is not only Saguaro's lifespan. In Saguaro National Park, black bears live. I didn't expect black bears in the desert. They live in a higher elevation above 6000 feet. Actually I didn't expect that high elevation in Saguaro NP either. The highest point in the Saguaro NP is 8666 feet at Mica Mountain.
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Curry pan
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In our backpacking we started around 3000 feet and Douglas Spring campsite is 4800 feet. The uphill is gradual, so I didn't feel tough. First 2 miles were full of Saguaro and other cactus, as well as day hikers. After 2 miles of hiking, there were not many hikers, maybe we saw only 2 trail runners. I liked the solitude in the desert. As we go up higher, Saguaro disappeared, maybe environment is not suitable for Saguaro. We sat down on a hill and had Japanese curry pan (pan means bread in Japanese: the same in French), which we bought at a Japanese bakery in Phoenix. This was also unexpected experience! The pan was delicious!
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nice view
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Going up, the view got even more marvelous. You can see a trail in the left picture and the town Tsuson in the left. Desert mountains are very cool. After 6.6 miles of hiking, we arrived at the campsite. Douglas Spring has 3 sites. 3 groups can book permits, but not specify which site. We were the first one to arrive there, so we assessed all 3 sites and took the site1. Actually nobody came that night.
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| campsite |
The site picture is in the left. It is spacious and there is a bearproof locker. It is nice they provide it: that saved our weight a lot, because we didn't need to carry a bear canister. One interesting fact is that this locker is not only for bears, but also for javelinas. Javelina. I didn't know about this animal. They look like wild boars, but much smaller size, with pig-like nose. Their visions are not great, but smelling skill is excellent. Technically they are vegetarians, but they also eat small rodents, dead birds, etc if there are opportunities. Javelinas are usually not aggressive, however, they can be aggressive when food is involved. That's why animal proof boxes for campers for bears and javelinas.
After we pitched a tent we walked around the campsite, AND we found WATER! It was just some puddles, but it is enough to go backpacking another night. Hmmmm. Volunteers didn't tell us. We could have done another night, but we didn't bring food for another night. Oh well.
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evening light
 | Jupiter and Saturn
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Anyway we went up to the hill and had dinner. Nobody around. So quiet. Looking at sun going down gradually was extremely priceless. This experience is literally priceless, since you can't just buy this!
Orange light hitting the sun was beautiful. Eating hot udon noodles was perfect for that chilly night!
By the time we eat cookies and hot tea, the sun was set and we were able to see very close Jupiter and Saturn. Since we were camping everyday, we observed each day them getting closer and closer.
How lucky we are! I could even catch the Jupiter and Saturn with normal digital camera. They are very bright.
Very nice day in Saguaro!
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