Today was a day filled with cactuses! Early this morning we were unsure of what we wanted to do today. While browsing the maps last night, as usual, I found an area filled with relatively short trails that connected together in a web, making it easy to create loops of different lengths depending on what we wanted to explore and how we felt while hiking. These trails are in the northwest corner of the eastern section of Saguaro National Park, and they were new to both of us. They looked like a good option.
But Rich was really leaning toward Brown Mountain, a hike in Tucson Mountain Park that had been suggested by my acquaintance Chris, a long-time Phoenix resident. It sounded like a great hike to me, too! And there are at least half a dozen benchmarks near Brown Mountain.
We set aside the idea of exploring the web of trails for another time, and a plan developed: go for breakfast, hike Brown Mountain early while it’s still quite cool, and then spend the rest of the afternoon looking for a few benchmarks nearby—never far from the car, in case the sun and heat got to be too much for us.
Our favorite close-to-the-motel breakfast place from years past, Country Folks, has closed, which left us searching this morning for something interesting nearby. I was about to suggest Micha’s, a little Mexican place we visited last time, when we came across Cora’s Cafe on TripAdvisor. It sounded good enough, and we often prefer to try someplace new anyway. We finally found the restaurant (thanks to Google Maps, no thanks to Garmin, which kept directing us to a nearly-deserted warehouse complex on the opposite side of the avenue).
Turns out that Cora’s Cafe is a cool little Mexican restaurant (I call it diner-style) serving great breakfasts—if you like Mexican food for breakfast, which we sure do! I ordered scrambled eggs with green chiles, onions and tomatoes. Accompaniments were lettuce, beans and tortillas, so I could make “Taco Bandito-style breakfast burritos” (as Dad says). Rich had chilaquiles with a delicious red sauce, two eggs over medium, and beans. Everything was delicious. “It’s such a nice homey place,” Rich said, “and the food is like what you’d get if you went to a Mexican family’s house.” I agree!
After basically licking the plates clean, we drove to Brown Mountain in Tucson Mountain Park.
Brown Mountain is now at the top of my recommendation list for anyone who loves cacti. The density and variety of species are astonishing. We both said more than once that we could have been completely satisfied just spending the whole day taking photos in the area right next to the parking lot! The area is filled, and I mean packed, with saguaros, opuntias and chollas of all kinds, ferocactus, echinocereus (hedgehogs), and the cutest little fishhook mammillarias.
A leisurely hike on desert-sand and loose-rock trails brought us up the first peak of Brown Mountain’s three summits. We took photos all along the way. We took one other thing too: a ripe ferocactus fruit bursting with glossy black seeds! Just in case they do germinate and grow, we also have coordinates and a photo of the parent plant, so we can show the seedlings where they came from.
The saguaros are starting to bloom. Even this early in the season, some of them are sporting multiple open flowers. We found it interesting how many times we noticed that in a grove of several saguaros about the same size, one would be filled with buds and flowers while the others had none. Is it down to individual differences or some genetic/adaptive behavior? Obviously we have no idea, but observations like these can lead to some interesting conclusions, so we tend to take note.
The prickly pear flowers were closed on our way up the mountain but were wide open on our way back down, welcoming the sun and the warmth of the day.
The ferocactuses were of all sizes from basketball on up, but many are large barrels that have seen many years and challenges, yet continue to grow and bloom. This was true of many saguaros too.
The ever-dangerous chollas were everywhere. Don’t let a fallen piece get attached to your shoe, or worse, come close enough to an upright cholla plant that a piece detaches and grabs onto your arm or leg!
The mammillarias were cute little cottonballs that most often grew under nurse plants at the lower elevations but preferred the open areas near the top of the mountain.
The view from the first summit is perfect for a desert and cactus lover. Although signs of civilization are all around, it’s easy enough to imagine that there’s nothing left on earth but you and the cactuses! After pausing for a minute, Rich suggested that we continue on to the second peak. I was thrilled to explore more of this exotic cactus jungle!
The second of three summits is the highest and gave us a good workout, especially as the day was heating up quickly. At the top of the second summit we rested and filled up on water and a snack bar before descending back to the car. We noticed only one other person on the trail, and he was doing his best to avoid us. Nothing beats almost pure solitude on a trail surrounded by cacti and bathed in sunshine!
The benchmarks in this area were easy finds. The first was very close to Brown Mountain along McCain Loop Road. It initially grabbed my attention because it was listed as Destroyed in the NGS database, but we could see no reason why it would be destroyed, since the area appeared to be untouched desert. Moreover, there were no details in the recovery about why the mark was presumed destroyed. I can only assume there was some kind of mix-up since we found the mark easily and it was in fine condition.
The next benchmark on our list was along Kinney Road and was another easy find, although the U S Power Squadron claims to have been unable to find it. As Rich said, “hey, you can’t find benchmarks in Arizona when you’re sitting in a bar in Key West!” The monument projected a few inches so it was easy to spot this one even though it was surrounded by cactus. In fact, I sat on a prickly pear while trying to take a photo—but no damage done.
The third benchmark of the day was at Old Tucson, a touristy “old west” theme park. The mark is located just off the edge of the parking lot in a standard round concrete monument.
And the fourth and final find for today was a new GPS station high above the road near the Desert Museum. It was another easy find and the disk itself appears to be in good condition, although we both questioned the stability of the rock it’s set into. The site offers great views of Brown Mountain and its trails! But it was tricky to maneuver down the dry rocky gravel slope near the road and as we descended, Rich slipped and his hand landed right on one of those cute fishhook mamms. Ouch!!! We spent a few minutes pulling out the spines but all was well, even with the cactus (yes, we checked).
By now we were beat and just wanted to get cleaned up and go for some dinner. No surprise, we chose Mexican again, this time from one of our old favorites, El Charro. The restaurant dates back to the 1920s and is a charming and relaxing place for a solid Mexican meal, nothing fancy. They are best known for their carne seca, so Rich couldn’t resist trying the carne seca enchiladas. I had to go with one of my usual favorites, chicken flautas. At El Charro they come topped with a red sauce, which is unusual but very tasty. We had plenty of beer (their special 95th Anniversary draft!) and then took a brief walk around the block looking at the neighborhood cactus gardens. Fully satisfied from our day and the food, we were in bed by 6:30 tonight!
