Once we finished with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, we saw a campground nearby and close to excellent scenery at the Saguaro Forest East area. The Gilbert Ray campground.

Up to December 15th.

We stayed at the campground and visited a place that Jim and Tammie had suggested on West Gate Drive…for the spectacular sunset it provided. Wow!

I didn’t think there would be so many people there, but it was very busy and not with old people. Young people enjoying the sunset…that made me happy.

A view of Tucson from there.

We did a quick trip to the Saguaro National Forest West.

Hard to believe…coming from Ontario but this is a thick Saguaro Cactus forest.

With some interesting rocks.

and we found some pictographs.

Interesting how cacti look once they have fallen.

The next morning we went on another hike.

We started for another morning hike, and I felt a pin on my leg and tried to scratch it…it was a sausage cholla and it found my hand! Interestingly, we’d gone to the visitor’s centre to listen to a talk on mountain lions, cougars etc. that was cancelled – they offered a cactus tour instead and Linda and I went . He explained that one of the types of cholla seems to jump on you and cling (see the photo with one attached to Pierre’s hand) then he explained how to take it off as each of those barbs has a hook and when you take one off, another one will dig in. A comb is good, but for this – pliers – and a very quick and painful yank! The memory of the pain stayed much longer than I expected…measured in days.

Incredible pain.

We decided to hike up Brown Mountain Loop Trail.

As we were walking, I thought this was a big cat in the tree.

Linda and the Saguaro.

Sunset for this post…we move on after…