Dream Beneath A Desert Sky - The Sonoran Desert Part 1 of 3 - Catalina State Park, 2.23.19
“Let the desert wind cool your aching head. Let the weight of the world drift away instead”. Beck/The Golden Age
Looking for a mid-winter break, Bridgit and I headed down to the Tucson area to spend a few days with our good friend Susan. I was a manager for Susan’s Domino’s stores in the late Eighties. She was my inspiration to own my own business and my mentor as I worked to become a Subway franchisee. Along the way we became dear friends so we were excited to spend some quality time together. I was also extremely excited to have the opportunity to visit Saguaro National Park for the first time and to hopefully get some good photos, in particular, the iconic image of the giant saguaro cacti against a blazing desert sunset.
Susan’s back patio had a commanding view of the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountains. Just before we arrived, Tucson had been hit with an ultra-rare snowstorm so we were blessed with snow-capped peaks rising above the desert floor which made for some really dramatic photography.
Santa Catalina Mountains from Susan’s patio
Just across the seventh fairway from her patio was a small ridge. With a vast array of cactus species, I only had to walk a few steps from the house to get gorgeous views.
Snow covered Catalina Mountains and Cholla cactus
We even had a pack of five or six coyotes roam past the patio!
Nice doggie!
We had time to kill on the afternoon we arrived so we drove a short way down to Catalina State Park which is where we had our first up close and personal encounter with the Carnegiea Gigantea or giant saguaro cactus, dubbed “The Monarch of the Desert”. These amazing plants can grow over fifty feet tall and weigh as much as 16,000 pounds with a lifespan of over 150 years!
Carnegiea Gigantea
We didn’t have tons of time since it was late in the afternoon, but that was all the better for taking photos. We drove to the end of the park road and hiked a short one mile loop trail called The Nature Trail. The combination of the setting sun, the bright green cacti and the white snow-capped mountains made me a very happy camper and my camera was purring like a contented old tabby cat.
Views from the Nature Trail
Views from the Nature Trail
Lifelong friends
Once back at the house, I wandered over to the ridge to shoot the sunset. While there were no saguaros on this ridge, there were dozens of different kinds of cacti to use as foregrounds and I it was incredible to have such a great perch within walking distance of the patio.
Sun setting on the Catalina Mountains
The end of a perfect day
Continued in Part 2 of 3