ARIZONA CAMP 2015 – ON THE ROAD: March 22nd

ON THE ROAD: March 22^nd:

We went on a camping trip to Saguaro National Park the last week in March. Our tentative plans were to hike in the National Park and enjoy the wildflower show, and visit the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum which is nearby.

We left early on Sunday morning as the campground was first come/first served with regard to getting a campsite. Another factor was that this was in the area of Spring Break for some schools. The staff at Gilbert Ray Campground in the Tucson Mountain District were very helpful and suggested a couple of sites for us to look over. We found one that would provide some shade both in the morning and afternoon, and was close to the bathroom.

Campground neighbors -

SPINEY CHOLLA

CACTUS WREN

After setting up camp we decided to go for a much needed hike along one of the various trails. Well, none of the trailheads seemed to be signed, and the trails were difficult to ascertain. Finally we stopped at a group site for assistance. As we talked with the lady leader we all looked at each other and thought: “Gee, you look familiar”. Well the lady finally asked if my name was “Nancy”?  It turned out this was Bernice Lewis who had been an Artist-In-Residence at the North Rim in 2009. She and her husband were out from Williams College in Massachusetts with a college group to do some volunteer trail work for a week in the Grand Canyon.---What a small world it is!!

After chatting for a while, we took off on our hike. We found a trail, unmarked, and followed it to the East where it joined with Kinney Road. We then turned around and headed back to the West and went beyond where we had joined this trail hoping to find another trail which was on the map but not visible to us. Darkness was approaching when we finally returned back to the original trail and got back into camp as darkness descended on the campground. It was a good hike but could have been better without the stress of darkness coming and a poorly marked trail.