Tag: saguaro

Christmas Presence

A woman in a red jacket walks on the trails in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 25, 2021. Original: _ZFC1111.NEF

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to get up early and go out for a hike, you have the park mostly to yourself until families are done opening presents and the trails get busy. On this Christmas a few years ago I saw a kindred spirit as I looked back to the mountain behind me.

📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 24-200
🗓️: December 25, 2021

A Little Hope

New growth grows out of a saguaro arm on the Latigo Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on August 6, 2021. Original: _RAC6047.ARW

A few summers ago I noticed the park was closing after sunset so I went out for a late afternoon hike, not expecting much, just wanting to be out in the desert. It was still plenty hot so I took my favorite trail as it’s an easy hike, stopping for a water break at my favorite saguaro. She seems the worse for wear every time I see her, damage spreading further down her arms. After we exchanged pleasantries I continued down the trail but stopped after a few steps, my brain telling me it saw something but couldn’t tell me what. I stepped backwards until I was in my original spot and stared for the longest time before I realized what first caught my attention: she was pushing out new growth from one of her arms.

She never gives up, this one.

📷: Sony A6600 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: August 6, 2021

Sonoran Gothic

A crucifixion thorn grows next to a saguaro skeleton on the 118th Street Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on August 8, 2021. Original: _CAM3378.ARW

A nod to Grant Wood’s “American Gothic“, even if only the saguaro skeleton keeps to the long vertical lines of the iconic duo in the painting. The crucifixion thorn is not to be contained and confined, it is an explosion of life, a dancer in the desert, the beauty of being true to yourself.

📷: Sony A6500 | Sony 16-50mm f/2.8 G
🗓️: August 8, 2021

Head on a Swivel

A great horned owl perches on a saguaro, framed by two out-of-focus arms of a closer saguaro, in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 12, 2024. Original: _A672530.ARW

Normally I set up the tripod at the edge of the trail but to frame the owl between the arms of the nearby saguaro I had to be smack dab in the middle. I kept my head on a swivel, not so much for riders coming uphill as they’re usually huffing and puffing pretty good at this point, but for riders coming downhill where gravity is their friend. The owl did the same as it had two young charges nearby, mostly it was looking away from me, perhaps keeping an eye out for the family of hawks that live in the distance. Luckily for me I had the trail to myself and had plenty of time to wait for it to swivel its head back into view.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 12, 2024