The Price We (I) Pay 03/21/20

Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona

All day long he (the sluggard) craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing. ~ Proverbs 21:26

Today was an easy day – a drive back into Saguaro National Park to do a couple of things we didn’t have time for the other day.

So we’re driving down the road,
and we see something that looks like an eagle,
and it lands on top of this sagauro!
So we turned around. : )

Image result for pictures of black and white hawk — This is it!
It’s called a black and white eagle.
How do people manage to get pictures like this?!?

We drove their scenic drive road and stopped at a couple of places. One of which would plague me for the next few days. But first, we did a short hike to an overlook.

This little saguaro is probably about 60 years old.
Same as Blaine! ; )

Interesting growth!
The saguaro, not Blaine. : )

Look how close the prickly pear and fishhook barrel are to each other!
One of them’s eventually gonna have to give.

See that light brown area on the top right?
That’s the same mining operation we saw first from the top of Wasson Peak about a week ago.

This is certainly a unique shelter.
It even has a built-in stool! : )

Enjoy this next picture, because I think I cracked a rib getting into position for it! I have no idea how, but as I leaned against the stone, I heard a soft ‘pop!’ in the bottom front rib area and pain set in. It only lasted for a second, but as I write this, it’s now three days later, and I’m still hurting at times. And of course – – as always, when I suffer injuries – – it’s my left side. I guess that’s the price I had to pay for today’s adventure . . . .

There I am! Writhing in pain . . .
Well, not quite writhing. Just a little uncomfortable at this point.

And here’s the picture I took to commemorate the event. : )

We thought this one looks like a cross. : )

We’ve driven on to the Picture Rock trail.

Probably more of a deterrent for climbing on the rocks than a simple, “Keep Off the Rocks” sign. : )

There’s my ocotillo and Blaine’s saguaro together!

Remember? Painted, they’re called pictographs.
Scraped or chisled, they’re petroglyphs.
These are all petroglyphs.

Not nearly as impressive as we’ve seen in previous travels.

Besides, how do they know these weren’t carved in the early 1900’s or something?

After the drive, we left the Park, and re-entered it, left it, and re-entered as we made our way over to a more distant corner of the Park in order to hike a promising-sounding trail.

It was interesting, I’ll give it that, but certainly nothing like we’re used to. The most interesting thing about it was where the trail head was. Right at the end of a fancy neighborhood cul-de-sac! You just park at the end of the street, walk down the wall, and along the fence for about 100 yards until you find the opening in the fence. Crazy!

One of the neighbors who lives there was very friendly (at a purposeful distance) and told us all about how to find the opening and made sure we had water to take with us. We’ve noticed a lot of native Arizonians ask us that. Some even questioning us further if they don’t actually see our packs around our waist. So sweet! 😊