This was our first full day in Tucson and it was nice to wake up in our own apartment (and eat our own food) rather than a hotel room with a buffet breakfast.

After fuelling up on Eggo’s and green tea (I had to have green tea because we weren’t able to find milk to purchase the day before – it wasn’t bad!) we headed out into the glorious sunshine. Temperatures were due to reach 27 degrees today so we knew it was going to be a hot one. The snow and freezing conditions in previous parks were somewhat of a distant memory at this point.

Saguaro National Park

When you see the pictures of this park you won’t be surprised to know that “Saguaro” is a type of cactus. They are native to the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, which is where we currently are.

It was incredible to see so many and they all look very different in terms of height and how many “arms” they have growing from them. Apparently some have as many as 50 arms, but I think we only managed to see one with about 10. They are able to absorb and store a lot of rainwater which enables them to survive the drier periods. They can live for up to 200 years too, and it can take between 50-70 years for them to grow their first arm, so some were obviously very old.

Anyway, we did a couple of trails in the park, the first was a fairly short, flat walk along sandy paths amongst the saguaro’s.

The second trail was a bit longer and tougher with a few up and down sections. There is literally no shade anywhere on the trail and the sun was fierce, making it even more punishing. You really need to make sure you drink a lot of water en route!

We did also see another type of saguaro (a more rarer form), named a cristate saguaro. This is when the saguaro grows a fan-like shape at its tip.

After we’d spent half the day at Saguaro NP we headed to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area which consists of mountain peaks and deep canyons. There is usually water running through the creek in the canyon, but sadly not at this time of year and the only glimpse of water was a tiny pool on one of the rocks (see pic below) and the water fountain which we reached half way around the trail loop.

This was a more interesting hike to the ones this morning as although it was still desert and saguaro territory, there was more to see as you were navigating your way along peaks, ridges, crossing the creek etc and often there was rocky terrain to scramble over, so it wasn’t just sandy desert. Plus there were a few shady areas along the way which was very welcome.

All in all it had been a successful day of hiking, clocking up 10.6 miles. We treated ourselves to an ice-cream on the way home to try and cool down. There is a communal pool in our housing area, but it was a bit late to use when we got back, and we were too knackered…maybe tomorrow.

Lucy