AZT/La Sevilla CG to Rincon Creek

 

Day 12

6.6 easy miles

We have a permit for Saguaro Park for tomorrow night, so we plan another really easy day of moseying along.  Perhaps my knee will heal. 

Turning into naturalists we kneel and get on tiptoe to peer into stuff.  We try and figure out how nature works out here in the Sonoran desert.  Without internet access it is all guessing, but it's fun.  It's interesting. 

It appears that the Saguaro gets pecked on by a bird and then heals, creating a type of scar tissue that a bird could return to and make a nest in or store stuff in. (I know, Mark is poking his pole where it doesn't belong.  Last time he did that a cholla got him, with it's segmented, almost jumping response to pressure.)

 

Also interesting is the skeletons of the Saguaro and the cholla.  

 

We spy a hole that was recently dug on and discover very wide claw marks.  Do badgers live here?  Very interesting. 

 

The prickly pear appears to be predominant in the cactus world, and we imagine it taking over the landscape, until we notice that some sort of illness seems to be attacking some of them.  We also notice that some have been chewed on which begins a whole new conversation of possibile diners.  We agree that some small rodent,  most likely a desert rat, carefully places its paws between the spines and climbs around eating.  Here is a prickly pear most recently dined on. 

 

We pass the time too with the many cyclists who use this section of evenly graded and swooping trail. They ring their bell as they approach us from behind, so we can step out of their way.   Mark, whose hearing is poor, can never hear the bell so he is always startled and leaps rapidly out of the way.  The cyclist always apologizes profusely, as though it's their fault Mark can't hear.  At this point they are stopped  and a chat ensues.  

 

Cool logo.  Most of the riders are quite impressive.  One cyclist in particular passed us 4 times on about a four mile stretch, this is also an indicator of how slow we are walking. 

We saw Waldo again too.  You might remember a comment about him earlier in our hike.  His trail name is Waldo because you never know where he might pop up.  He's working on a free crowdsource app for all the long trails.  Here's his card.  Seems like a really nice guy too. 

 

We are currently camped at Rincon Creek as just ahead of us is the National Park. We laze around on its sand and I soak my knee in its cold water.   It feels strange not hiking.  We have like 17 hours until morning.  I guess we will find something to do, like read a book or go poke around and see what we can discover. 

 

Today's takeaway: sometimes poking around can be an enjoyable way to spend the day.