The original plan for today was to head out from Tucson across the desert on I-8, stop off in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California for an hour or two, and continue on to San Diego. A look at the map showed that that wasn't really reasonable, because...well...San Diego is further from Tucson than I realized; Anza-Borrego would have to go. I found a good substitute, though: Saguaro National Park is located in Tucson.
Surprisingly enough, Saguaro National Park promises saguaro cacti...and it delivers. It's actually split into two parts, one on the west side of Tucson (the Tucson Mountain district) and one on the east (the Rincon Mountain district); I went to the latter. With the hour or so at my disposal, I went on the Cactus Forest loop drive, and walked a mile or so on a trail in that drive. There were plenty of cacti to see on the road itself (and some great mountain vistas) and even more interesting ones just off the road:
Three major types of cactus: saguaro (tall, background center), cholla (short and branchy, foreground left/center), and prickly pear (middle, center-right).
I think this one is a big barrel cactus, but I'm not sure. Notice the very dense population of spines.
Close-up of the spines on the barrel cactus. Those hooked spines do not mess around - they're really hard, and pretty sharp at the points, too.
Saguaro cacti begin life growing under "nurse" trees. You can see a few young saguaro under this one.
As you get a bit further along the road, it passes right by the mountains bordering Tucson, and a valley full of saguaro (which is a bit strange to see, but really cool):
I finished up the drive and headed out, but had to take one last picture along the road, of the most strangely-shaped saguaro I've ever seen:
After the park, I headed out on I-10 to I-8 west. This road is flat, straight, and goes through quite a lot of nothing - all empty desert. Some of that empty desert is protected parkland, which means you get to see some more cacti along the way. One interesting thing is that this stretch of 8 through Arizona is the only interstate I've seen yet that actually allows bicycles (though only on the shoulders), likely because there really aren't any other roads through this area.
Once you cross over into California, the scenery changes somewhat; it's still pretty desert-y until you hit the agricultural regions of the Imperial Valley, and then turns to mountains as you cross over into the San Diego valley. These mountains are one of the more spectacular drives I've done - as you approach from the east, it looks like you're driving over piles of GIANT pebbles, like a titan's quarry.
As I crossed into San Diego, I ignored the directions of my GPS, and decided there was one thing I had to do before heading to UCSD to meet with my friends. I just kept going west on 8 until it ended (meaning that today, I drove the entire length of I-8). Then I drove a bit further, until I saw this:
An ocean where the sun sets, not rises. That feels like home.
Tomorrow: San Diego, CA to Los Angeles, CA
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