Letters to Pop: 2 March 2016 - Arizona: Friends, Music and Cactus

Spent some time in Arizona last week visiting friends. What an amazing time. Carolyn, who spends winters there, is part of a bluegrass band and organized two big jams for us. One at a lake and the other in a barn on a cotton farm. Lots of wonderful music and musicians. Discovered just how out of practice I am. But I could still noodle along, mostly.

Before this trip I hadn't spent any time in Arizona. I've driven through the four corners area but that is all. I have to say I am in love with the landscape. All the volcanic rock formations, the many kinds of cactus, especially the saguaro--it all captured my heart.

I discovered that one out of every 250,000 saguaros have a mutation that makes them into a crested or crowned saguaro. What a thrill to see one!

I am only in this picture for scale--they are huge! Here is another amazing factoid. Saguaros take 75 to 100 years to get to the 16-20 foot height they need before they put out their first arm. By the time they reach 200 years old they finally attain their full height of 45 feet tall. It is a humbling experience to stand among such ancients.

Seriously, isn't this landscape stunning? And alien?

Carolyn, Kathy and I all met when we lived in Michigan. We played music together as often as possible. Here we are on our way to Saguaro Lake for the first music jam. Just a quick stop to admire the vista.

This is the view looking at the lake from our campsite.

If you turn 180 degrees the campsite backs up to a steep mountain covered with cactus.

Love to see new plants. Everywhere we went I saw all kinds of new and interesting flora and fauna. Who knew that cactus came in purple?

These cutie-pies are called Fairy dusters. You can immediately see why.

The lichen on the rocks around the lake were chartreuse! At first it looked like someone had gone crazy with spray paint, but no. Here's a patch on the rocks. That is a Prairie Falcon on the ledge.

The lichen is bright!

Carolyn also took us to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, the oldest and largest botanical garden in Arizona. We spent more than four hours walking through the grounds. What a wonderful day! The cacti were on the verge of blooming. I'll bet this week it is just gorgeous there.

Even the thorns are beautiful.

See all the pink buds below? Imagine the sea of color when they burst into bloom.

The paths we walked were narrow, only one person wide. I'm running out of superlatives to describe this place.

The next day we took a six mile boat tour up Canyon Lake. Carolyn's daughter Marion joined us on this trip.

They have named many of the rock formations. This one is Bach playing the organ.

We saw two pairs of Bald Eagles nesting, Peregrine Falcons and Big Horned Sheep. The rock formations were really interesting. Even saw a wall of petrified wood. What a fabulous world we live in.

Can you find the Big Horned Sheep in the left hand picture? It is scary steep on those rocks. He is in the same spot on the right hand side for a closer look.

We saw quite a few sheep including this ewe that looks as though she is ready to drop a kid.

Had a beautiful sunset one evening. It bathed the mountain behind Carolyn's home in pink.

I admit, I finally understand the appeal of going somewhere warm in the winter, getting away from the cold and snow. It is even better with friends, music and so many new things to see.

Is it possible to write a post without mentioning birds?

I got 14 lifers while I was there! And that was just walking around the neighborhood and keeping an eye peeled on our trips. Whee! Here are a few favorites.

Cactus wren in mating display and in more normal posture.