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Jerry Pillarelli | profile | all galleries >> Travel and Nature; Sites by State >> US Travel; by Trip, by State >> Arizona >> Saguaro National Park - Arizona >> 2017 Cycle of Life – Sonoran Desert tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

2017 Cycle of Life – Sonoran Desert

Images of the cycle of life in the Sonoran Desert – Southern Arizona, taken in March 2017.

Living over 150 years and growing up to 50 feet tall the mighty Saguaro is the symbol of the old west and stands tall over the other residents of the Sonoran Desert. Visitors to Saguaro National Park marvel at these unique inhabitants of the desert southwest; they are the celebrities that everyone who visits here comes to see.

All who pass through here come away with photographs and memories of the distinctive plant for which the park is named. What most don’t see, or photograph, is that the “Sentinel of the Sonoran Desert” is just as majestic in death as it is in life as the Saguaro’s wooden framework continues to stand tall in its skeletal form long after its biological existence has ended.

Hiking through the park I made it a point to document some of the towering, and felled Saguaros as well as many of the other deceased occupants of this amazing desert region. These are the images of the end of the cycle of life in the Sonoran Desert.
Saguaro skeleton flanked by a mature (left) and young Saguaro (foreground) in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro skeleton flanked by a mature (left) and young Saguaro (foreground) in the Sonoran Desert 		A Saguaro arm baking in the sun in the Sonoran Desert
A Saguaro arm baking in the sun in the Sonoran Desert		 Giant Saguaro skeleton on a mountainside in the Sonoran Desert
Giant Saguaro skeleton on a mountainside in the Sonoran Desert		 Dead Prickly Pear cactus skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
Dead Prickly Pear cactus skeleton in the Sonoran Desert		 Remains of a tree in the Sonoran Desert
Remains of a tree in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro skeleton in Saguaro National Park in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro skeleton in Saguaro National Park in the Sonoran Desert		 Outer skin of a Saguaro cactus rotting off of the skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
Outer skin of a Saguaro cactus rotting off of the skeleton in the Sonoran Desert		 A dead Mesquite tree in the Sonoran Desert
A dead Mesquite tree in the Sonoran Desert		 A Saguaro cactus skeleton comes apart in the Sonoran Desert
A Saguaro cactus skeleton comes apart in the Sonoran Desert		 Ribs of a Saguaro cactus skeleton fan out in the Sonoran Desert
Ribs of a Saguaro cactus skeleton fan out in the Sonoran Desert
A Saguaro skeleton breaks apart in the Sonoran Desert
A Saguaro skeleton breaks apart in the Sonoran Desert		 Tree and Saguaro skeletons in the Sonoran Desert
Tree and Saguaro skeletons in the Sonoran Desert		 Teddy Bear Cholla cactus skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
Teddy Bear Cholla cactus skeleton in the Sonoran Desert		 A dying Saguaro cactus with a remaining living arm in the Sonoran Desert
A dying Saguaro cactus with a remaining living arm in the Sonoran Desert		 A Saguaro skeleton flanked by a mature Saguaro in the Sonoran Desert
A Saguaro skeleton flanked by a mature Saguaro in the Sonoran Desert
Purple Cane Cholla cactus skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
Purple Cane Cholla cactus skeleton in the Sonoran Desert		 Buckhorn Cholla skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
Buckhorn Cholla skeleton in the Sonoran Desert		 Close up of the skeleton of a Teddy Bear Cholla cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Close up of the skeleton of a Teddy Bear Cholla cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro cactus hardwood ribs in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro cactus hardwood ribs in the Sonoran Desert		 The now dried spongy pulp inside of a dead Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert
The now dried spongy pulp inside of a dead Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Damage to the skin and ribs of a living Giant Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Damage to the skin and ribs of a living Giant Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 An uprooted fishhook Barrel cactus in the Sonoran Desert
An uprooted fishhook Barrel cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 Dead tree in the Sonoran Desert
Dead tree in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro skeleton with a Giant Saguaro in the background in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro skeleton with a Giant Saguaro in the background in the Sonoran Desert		 A toppled Saguaro skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
A toppled Saguaro skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
A dying Saguaro with live arm in the Sonoran Desert
A dying Saguaro with live arm in the Sonoran Desert		 Arms broken off of a dying Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Arms broken off of a dying Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro cactus arm on the ground in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro cactus arm on the ground in the Sonoran Desert		 Remains of a Saguaro cactus seeping water stored within in the Sonoran Desert
Remains of a Saguaro cactus seeping water stored within in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro cactus shedding arms as it dies in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro cactus shedding arms as it dies in the Sonoran Desert
Prickly Pear cactus dying in the Sonoran Desert
Prickly Pear cactus dying in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro cactus skeleton baked by the sun in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro cactus skeleton baked by the sun in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro cactus skeleton still standing in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro cactus skeleton still standing in the Sonoran Desert		 Dead Mesquite tree in the Sonoran Desert
Dead Mesquite tree in the Sonoran Desert		 Collapsed Saguaro cactus disintegrating in the Sonoran Desert
Collapsed Saguaro cactus disintegrating in the Sonoran Desert
A dying Giant Saguaro in the Sonoran Desert
A dying Giant Saguaro in the Sonoran Desert		 The fallen arm of a Giant Saguaro crushes a Prickly Pear cactus in the Sonoran Desert
The fallen arm of a Giant Saguaro crushes a Prickly Pear cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 Decomposing Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Decomposing Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro wooden framework in view as the skin of the cactus rots away in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro wooden framework in view as the skin of the cactus rots away in the Sonoran Desert		 Large Saguaro cactus slowly decays in the Sonoran Desert
Large Saguaro cactus slowly decays in the Sonoran Desert
The arms of a dying Saguaro scattered on the ground in the Sonoran Desert
The arms of a dying Saguaro scattered on the ground in the Sonoran Desert		 A decaying Saguaro limb reveals the ribs of the cactus in the Sonoran Desert
A decaying Saguaro limb reveals the ribs of the cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 The outer skin of a Saguaro cactus falling off of the skeleton in the Sonoran Desert
The outer skin of a Saguaro cactus falling off of the skeleton in the Sonoran Desert		 The skeleton of a dead Prickly Pear cactus in the Sonoran Desert
The skeleton of a dead Prickly Pear cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 A dead Palo Verde tree in the Sonoran Desert
A dead Palo Verde tree in the Sonoran Desert
Skeleton arm of a Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Skeleton arm of a Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro cactus skeleton still standing in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro cactus skeleton still standing in the Sonoran Desert		 Tall Saguaro cactus starting to lose its arms in the Sonoran Desert
Tall Saguaro cactus starting to lose its arms in the Sonoran Desert		 Tree stump in the Sonoran Desert
Tree stump in the Sonoran Desert		 Dying Saguaro surrounded by a living Mesquite tree in the Sonoran Desert
Dying Saguaro surrounded by a living Mesquite tree in the Sonoran Desert
Remains of a decaying Saguaro Cactus in the Saguaro Forest in the Sonoran Desert
Remains of a decaying Saguaro Cactus in the Saguaro Forest in the Sonoran Desert		 Fallen Ocotillo cactus in the Sonoran Desert
Fallen Ocotillo cactus in the Sonoran Desert		 Saguaro and Mesquite tree skeletons in the Sonoran Desert
Saguaro and Mesquite tree skeletons in the Sonoran Desert		 Fallen Saguaro decomposing in the Sonoran Desert
Fallen Saguaro decomposing in the Sonoran Desert		 Teddy Bear Cholla cactus skeleton baked by the sun in the Sonoran Desert
Teddy Bear Cholla cactus skeleton baked by the sun in the Sonoran Desert

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