AZ - March 2018 - Days 1-2

March 7^th, 2018 (Wednesday)

First trip of the year!! We had an evening Delta flight out of DTW to Phoenix, AZ! There was a short delay due to plane cleaning, otherwise smooth sailing. Hotels were a bit expensive, but we managed to find a place in Mesa, about 25 minutes from the airport, that was under $150 a night. The place was called Westgate Painted Mountain Golf Resort. We had a studio unit, which was in decent condition.

March 8^th, 2018 (Thursday)

We love the HOV lanes! Phoenix traffic was quite heavy on our way to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. By 9 AM, traffic let up, which was fine with us, since we were pretty much out of the city by that point. It was a bit of a drive to Organ Pipe Cactus, but well worth it.

Organ Pipe Cactus

Organ Pipe Cactus was named after the Organ Pipe Cactus that exist at the site.  Organ Pipe Cactus is a part of the Sonoran Desert and is home to over 4,000 species of plants and animals.  Organ Pipe Cactus is also known as the Green Desert. We had stopped at the IGA store in Ajo to get some lunch, since the park does not offer food. The IGA did not have a lot of options for an easy lunch, unless you wanted a lunchable (or something along tho  We probably should have stopped at a gas station where we probably could have picked up sandwiches for lunch.
se lines).

The weather was nice – mostly cloudy but in the low 80’s. Unfortunately, the visitor center did not have power. Luckily, when we first arrived the rangers had some materials outside of the center and could answer any questions. We checked in later in the afternoon and the power was still not on and the rangers and information were not available.

Arch Canyon Trail - Ajo Mountain

We opted to check out the Ajo Mountain scenic drive first, which the ranger had given us a pamphlet that described each numbered site along the way. The drive takes about two hours. There were many pull-offs, a few hiking, and picnic areas along the 21 mile loop. The drive was on a gravel road, which was in okay condition. There were not any restrictions as to what type of vehicle could be taken on the road. Besides stopping at some of the numbered stops, we also stopped at the Arch Canyon trailhead. The hike was advertised as 1.2 miles and lasting about an hour.  It was a relatively easy hike until you get to the sign that gives you a warning about the trail turning rocky. Apparently, the advertised 1.2-mile hike ends at this point. We continued past this point, since we did not know that it was the end of the hiking trail. The trail on the rocky portion was a bit more challenging with a lot of smooth rocks to scramble up. We were unsure if the rock scramble portion would actually lead us to a close up of the rock bridge so eventually we turned back. We did have some nice views from the portion that we did make it up to.

Desert View Trail

After leaving the Ajo Mountain scenic drive, we headed back to the visitor center to do a hike near there.  The Desert View Trail loops around the group camping area and provided lovely views and was an easy 1.2 mile hike.  This trail is advertised as great for sunrise and sunset.

We had adequate time for another hike, we drove over to the other loop road, Puerto Blanco, and parked at the Red Tanks Tinaja trailhead. Again, this loop road was gravel and in decent condition in the portion that we traversed. Our plan was to hike the 1.6 mile Red Tanks Tinaja trail. We set off for the hike and reached a cluster of signs, since did not think we had reached the end of the trail that we were set out on we kept on walking the direction that we thought we should go. The trail ended up taking us down an old fire road (maybe?)  - it was super boring with very few views. L

uckily. the hike was not to challenging – just lots of small pebbles that tended to end up in your shoes.

The entire Puerto Blanco loop is 41 miles and takes 3 to 4 hours.  Portions of the road are two way.

All in all we hiked over 5 miles at Organ Pipe Cactus, which would have meant that we could participated in the Hike for Health Challenge for hiking more than 5 miles had the visitor center opened up. Note – there is a $12 fee that you are supposed to pay at a station at the side of the road.

Driving back to the accommodations from the previous night, we stopped by a place called Booty’s Wings Burgers & Beer for dinner. It was tasty.