Organ Pipe Cactus National Park

January 30, 2010

We took off on Sunday, the 30th and headed down to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Park. South of Gila Bend, AZ...just 5-7 miles north of the Mexican border. We had to go through two Border Patrol check points on the way down...they just waved us through.

The organ pipe cactus are found only in this area of Arizona and down into Mexico. They do not occur anywhere else on the planet. Really quite interesting. There were many other specimens of cactus in this area also. Many Saguaro cacti.

The rock formations were different than any we have seen elsewhere in Arizona. Very craggy.

The Saguaro were almost as prevalent in this area as they were in the Saguaro National Forest. But we saw larger numbers of other cacti.

The "fuzzy" looking cactus is a teddy bear Cholla (Choy-ya). People think the burrs jump out at you if you come close, but we were told "if you bump into them" you will wear the burrs, and need a comb and tweezers to remove the prickles. Kind of like the old "Sand burrs" that I remember from the fields as a kid.

This part of the desert is really quite green. And is said to be greener than any other desert area in the Southwest. Quite a contrast from Death Valley.

We found another great example of the Ocotillo out on one of the driving trails...which was very dry...no leaves at all...but you we able to see the green behind the cracks in the bark. We did see an Ocotillo with full leaves on our way to Yuma the next week...but did not stop to take a picture.


Our Journey back also included 2 Border Patrol checkpoints. Just a little more thorough on the way back...a few questions...and we hadn't even gone to Mexico.