February 18-19, 2017 Organ Pipe, Arizona

Rany day in the park.

It rained most of the day. We went out on a nature hike with the ranger on the 1.5 mile scenic loop near the campground. It rained the whole time and we were drenched, dry inside our rain gear, but it was soaked and cold. The clouds were even obscuring the peaks around us. There must be a story about this tent, but we didn’t go out in the rain to find out.

More warnings here. Hiking in the desert can be an enjoyable experience watch out for things that grab, scratch or poke you, hiking trails can be rugged, you may encouter loose rocks and severe inclines with steep drops, some animals can be dangerous if cornered or handled and can put both you and the animal at risk of injury or death. Scary place!, Africanized honey bees-listen for humming it indicates a large number of bees and move away from the area if the bees start bumping you. DO NOT swat or attempt to kill a bee or they will attack. In the campground beware of packrats, they may build a nest in your car and/or eat the wiring. Scary place! Warnings we don’t usually see when camping. The poor cormorant must be really lost, he is a waterfowl that eats fish and here he is in the middle of the road in the desert. John thinks the high winds may have blown him off course. I found out that the blue ore at the mine yesterday was copper ore, Mexican jumping beans plant and a fish hook barrel eactus.

More rain on the desert and obscured mountains.  It rained hard all night. We went on a ranger lead trip to Gachado Line Camp. It was part of an old ranch.

The line camp was right on the border of Mexico.The talk was about the fence between. Rebecca the leader waving at kids driving by in an ATV in Mexico. Those kids road back and forth waving and talking to us. There is a road with  houses and agriculture etc on the other side of the fence. It does not stop people from coming through, the bottom right shows a patch over a hole cut with a sawzall.  Wet ocotillo, a red tailed hawk on a saguaro, blooming plant and fungus starting to grow.

The desert is greening up even more since the rain.  Twin Peaks campground.

More wet ocotillo, fungus, the saguaros are programed to suck up water, they have no off switch so when they get full their skin burst and leaves a scar like on this 10-15 year old one. A cool trailer we saw in the campground. The part with the windows pops up once you are camped. John asked the guy where it is made, he said Canada, John says I bet it keeps you warm and the guy said the USA can build rockets but Canada makes better trailers.  Views affter the rainstorm.

More after the rainstorm views.

Sunset.