Despite every race being his last, Steve signed up for Aravaipa's Coldwater Rumble in January. He ran the 52 mile race that was held at Estrella Mountain Regional Park outside of Goodyear, AZ. We decided to make a long weekend of it and after he finished his race on Saturday (10:17:32 - nice job!) we drove down to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to camp for two nights at Twin Peaks Campground, which was a really nice campground.

Organ Pipe Cactus NM is also an International Biosphere Reserve, established in 1976 as a "pristine example of an intact Sonoran Desert ecosystem". With little precipitation and extreme temperatures, flora and fauna have to be hardy to survive here. The monument contains 31 species of cacti, including its namesake, the organ pipe cactus. This is the only place in the US to see large stands of organ pipe cacti (they can grow up to 40 miles north of the monument, but exist there in only small isolated spots. The bulk of the population is within the monument). Some facts about organ pipe cacti (from the NPS website):

- they are found on south facing slopes, which is critical in reducing the chances of being killed by a frost
- the cactus migrated north from the warm, dry tropics. It arrived in the Sonoran desert ~3500 years ago
- they can live to over 150 years old and produce their first flower at 35 years
- the flowers bloom at night in May and June and are pollinated at night by the lesser long nosed bat
- the cactus can reach ten to twenty feet in height
- in the monument the average cactus grows 2.5 inches a year (thanks to the high temperatures and monsoons in July and August)

The monument is full of organ pipes, as well as huge saguaros and one of my favorites for photography, the teddy bear cholla. The saguaros were really impressive here and we had fun spotting the biggest and the most interesting shapes. The saguaros only grow in the Sonoran desert (determined by elevation and temperature) and will normally reach up to 40 feet tall (!). They grow very slowly (and it seems even slower in Organ Pipe NM compared to some other areas of the Sonoran Desert) - it can take ten years for a saguaro to reach an inch tall. They produce their first flowers around 70 years of age (will be 6.5 feet tall then) and can start to produce their first arm around 100 years (15 feet tall). They reach their full height at 200 years of age.

Like all plants and animals that call the Sonoran Desert home, the saguaro have adaptive features to help it survive, mainly related to collecting and retaining water. Much of the water collected is stored in the interior of the cactus which is filled with sponge like tissue. This can make the cactus heavy as it expands to hold water. At full capacity, a foot of saguaro cactus can weigh 90 pounds and a full height saguaro can weight over a ton. Saguaro also use nurse plants to grow when they are little. The nurse plants, most often a palo verde, provide shade, warmth, and moisture. As the saguaro grows, its root system eventually takes over the water and nutrients in the area and kills off the nurse tree (gee, what a thank you!).

While the fantastic cacti are the main attraction of the park, we also did the Arch Canyon hike. This hike is located off the Ajo Mountain Drive, a 21 mile scenic drive through the park (Bull Pastures and Estes Canyon are other hikes off this drive that we didn't do). We were able to pick up a tour guide pamphlet for the drive at the Kris Eggle Visitor Center. In non-Covid times, there is a three hour guided ranger tour in a van (which is good if you have an RV or another vehicle that is not suitable for the narrow gravel road).

The official Arch Canyon trail is an easy 0.6 mile trail one way. There is an unmaintained trail that continues up to the arch itself. This part of the trail is easy to follow (keep an eye out for cairns), but it is steep. Once we reached the ridge, we had nice views looking back down from where we came. We took a short break then took the steep, loose rock filled trail down to access the arch (so glad I had my hiking poles!). It was cool to stand under the arch and walk down the other side to see both arches in view.

After finishing our hike and the Ajo Mountain Drive, we drove to Why to grab lunch at Granny's Kitchen and take a look at the Why Not Travel Store. Definitely the cutest Texaco Station we have seen with the great cacti growing out front and some neat murals in the back. We returned to the park and hung out at our campsite for the afternoon. The campground itself had great cacti. We had a huge organ pipe at our campsite and the site across from us had a monster saguaro (this campsite remained empty so I was able to get a picture of the saguaro with the night sky). From the campground it is a short walk to the Desert View Trail, a nice 1.2 mile loop with a small climb up to a ridge that provides some nice views at sunrise and sunset (there are even some benches up here). At this ridge is a great collection of teddy bear cholla - my favorite, especially at sunrise and sunset for lighting. We watched sunset here and I returned in the morning to watch sunrise.

Organ Pipe NM is out of the way, but we are glad we were able to visit. Not only were the warm temperatures welcome for a weekend away from the cold, we loved the cacti in the park and enjoyed our time there.