I have lived in Tucson for nearly a decade and a half, and I've never hiked in Saguaro National Park East.
Understand that I live west of the Tucson Mountains, and have spent countless hours in Saguaro National Park West. It was designated a National Park since we moved to Tucson in 1998. It used to have the National Monument designation.
But I digress...
It takes about an hour to drive from my home in the Tucson Mountains to the very end of Broadway Blvd, where I parked at the trailhead, and headed east.
The first two miles are relatively flat land, and the Saguaro Cacti for which the park is named are very large (and therefore very old.) The one in the photo above might be more than 150 years old.
Two-foot-tall-or-taller jackrabbits made the day enjoyable with their presence. They sit real still, and must belive that in doing so, they won't draw attention to themselves.
Didn't work. I got photos!
I hiked the Pink Hill trail, and saw nothing that resembled pink until the sun set in the western sky. The sky was all shades of pink tonight, and the afterglow was red.
I wasn't going to put a sunset in this post, but how can I describe it, and fail to show it to you? I can't. It just wouldn't be fair, would it?
~ Getting Back to the Explorer ~
_____________________
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson Arizona Mortgage Lender.
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Offices (AZ) Mesa, Tucson, Sierra Vista, and Nogales.
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Mike
Any day hiking in Arizona is a great day, and it looks like you had a great day.
Good luck and success.
Lou Ludwig
WOW, Mike, what AWESOME views!!!!
Mike, great photos! It looks like it was worth the wait!
Mike stunning views and what a great place to go hiking.
The rabbits look to be almost as large the cacti they are sitting next to. BTW, nice sunset.
Amazing colors, I'm glad you included the sunset.
Your Friend in Charlottesville
Mike~ What gorgeous pictures.. Thanks for sharing. I don't think I could ever get bored with that!
Mike, I always love to stop by and see your photos. it looks like you had a fantastic hike.
Wow Mike!!! You're always in the right place at the right time! :) Beautiful!
Cheron,
Life is the right place, so long as I have my camera. :)
Gary,
I certainly did; thanks for stopping by.
Kim,
You're welcome. It never gets boring.
Charles,
I knew you would like that. :)
Valerie,
The rule of thirds. You're the first to mention it in more than 22,000 comments over three and one half years. I'll see you on your blog.
Don,
That Jackrabbit sits two and one half feet tall to the tip of those long ears.
Rebecca,
Everwhere is beautiful with the right attitude.
Darcy,
Yes it was!
Juli,
You'll have to come see it!
Lou,
I certainly did. Thanks for being the first to comment.
Mike in Tucson
Beautiful pictures Mike. I want to see the ground with no snow by me!
Mike, I always enjoy your photos. You make Arizona look like a place I should visit... I don't remember anything this beautiful from driving through the state en route to California a few decades ago.
Margaret,
I lived in NJ for 20 years, and I guarantee no one saw anything beautiful driving through on I-95 either. We have to slow down and travel the blue roads to find the beauty.
Debra,
Spring's coming; hang in there!
Mike in Tucson
That was a beautiful shot of the desert. Love the desert animals at night.
I was surprised that the post office was actually open - thanks for that great photo! amazing!!
So beautiul to look at.. I would love to go and see for myself..
Thanks for sharing..