September 1

We are looking down the length of a saguaro cactus here that had fallen across the trail we hiked today in the White Tanks. We went with our friend, John Hardy. John measured the thing, and it was 36 feet long! He said that with a maximum growth of 6" per year, it was at least 72 years old. I had never seen the roots of a cactus like this before. Very interesting. They cut the piece over the trail out, just like the do fallen trees in the forest, so we did not have to try to step over it. It was a beautiful day for a hike - stayed in the 80s and was overcast part of the time. However, it was very humid and my shirt was soaking wet with sweat at the end of the 6 mile hike. Needless to say, we drank a lot of water on the trail!