Fool on Adventure

We decided to explore the desert landscape to find its hidden wonders and to discover its true beauty.

“The Sonora desert is a place where one might feel trapped and helpless. The infinite blue sky not showing an inch of cloud has only to reveal a rasping sun. There are only a few ways to travel in the Sonora desert. One is by sticking to the harsh, long, hot roads and trails. These have been carved out by people who were not willing or capable to adapt to the land, then making it “theirs” through modification. Another way to travel is by walking along the dry, cracked river beds. The progress is possible this way too. Furthermore, it is more enjoyable to be off the beaten track, where you can adore the Fremont Cottonweed (Populus fremontii) trees glowing yellow in the winter and fall bright sunshine, highlighting the way along the sandy river banks. Looking down at the cracked, flaked pieces of mud beneath your feet, creates a daunting feeling, especially when your drinking water is diminishing. You are forever reminded about the importance of the water for all living beings when there is no hope to replenish your drinking water containers in the sweltering sun.

We went on a number of outings along the San Pedro River, which is one of the few Northward flowing rivers in the USA. It is possible to travel the river by foot most of the year, apart from the Monsoon season when thundering waters full of debris and sand flood down the valley.

The Sonora desert is filled with hundreds of green, vibrant plants. There are over 50 species of Cacti in the Sonora (The American Southwest), the largest Cactus being the Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea). Saguaro can live up to 200 years old and reach over 18 metres in height. The most pragmatic cactus is the prickly pear variety. It is harvested by locals and used in many ways. During our time traveling through the desert we had opportunities to try prickly pear jelly and juice, which were made from the large purple fruits. The fleshy part of this cactus can also be fried lightly in oil and eaten, once the prickly quills have been removed.

Like in many dry parts of the world, most of the plantlife is armed with some form of barb or thorn. This helps to deter herbivores from eating these plants. However, some animals, such as javelinas, have evolved alongside these plants and have adapted their mouth parts which enable them to tolerate some of the prickly and acidic plants, like agave (Agave tequilana).

On one of the days hiking we attempted to reach the foot of some large white bluffs in the Cascabel area. It was about 13 miles North of where we were staying. This also meant we were in the San Pedro Nature Conservation Area. Heading westwards away from the river, we had to fight our way through the mesquite (Prosopis spp.) woodland. Mesquite is another highly used plant in the desert. We had a chance to try the sweet and delicious Mesquite honey harvested from their flowers and flour made of grounded Mesquite bean pods.

When the branches of Mesquite were high enough for us to walk under, there were other types of thorny plants we had to precociously walk through. When we got ourselves stuck in a cluster of grasping thorns, it would give us the opportunity to look closely at our capturers and identify them. The False Mesquite (Calliandra eriophylla), also known as Fairy Duster, was the worst of all, with thorns like that of a rose or bramble bush. However, it bears fiery red flowers arranged in small clusters of long strand-like petals, making it one of our favourites. Another “favourite” of ours was the sticky grass that similar to Sticky Willy, also known as Cleavers (Galium aparine), as several minutes would go by whilst picking their hook-covered seeds off our socks, repeating this procedure every half an hour.

The path, we chose, lead us to the bottom of these vertical cream coloured cliffs. A small slit in the rock would suggest of a canyon leading into the bluffs. Eager for an adventure, we proceeded through the opening. Rivers have carved these gorges into the hard rock. Various length gullies meandered in-between the sheer rock walls. Some of these gullies, like the first one we entered, stopped at a dead end. We were surrounded by sky-high walls, shaped by the unbelievable force of the water. The second canyon ran far into the mountain, with a few tributary gullies leading into the main riverbed. At first if was very narrow, well-curved canyon with steep, high walls, which near the top of the mountain widened, reduced in height and now bared gentler curves. It was interesting to follow up the path of which the water gashes down during the Monsoon season. Believe it or not, there are two ways to die in the desert – from thirst or drowning. Although it was hard to comprehend the amount of water flooding down these canyons when it rains, due to visiting the area in the driest season, the force and power of the water was evident in the landscape.” Jamie

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´The desert is also a great place to observe a “rapid” vegetation change in relation to the elevation change. We decided to hike up Mica Mountain (2641m/8665ft) to observe this change. Our hike took us about 2 days. The first day we had to cycle for 18 miles to the trailhead and walk 6 miles up to a primitive campsite (1463m/4800ft). The walk started at around 850m/2800ft above the sea level.

The hard midday sun was beating hard upon us. The path led through Saguaro forest with several Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida) trees. This tree is the Arizona State tree. The bright green bark of this tree enables it to photosynthesize through the bark, making the most of the long, sunny days. It was hard to grasp it was mid winter when we set off for the walk, as we were sweating whilst in t-shirts and shorts.  However, we were remained of the presence of the winter, whenever we looked at the very top of the mountain. The trees and rock faces near the top glistened silvery white in the sun. A day ago it had rained in the desert meaning it snowed at 8,000 feet elevation.  Some snow and frost still lingered high up, which we hoped would last until we make it there. However, on the second day of our hike we could see the whiteness and the glimmer slowly retreating to the highest elevations.

As we gained the elevation, Saguaro forest became scarce and these cacti were only found in wetter, sheltered gullies, as they need plentiful of moisture and warm temperatures all year round.  Now other desert plants, like Ocotillo Cactus (Fouquieria splendens) were more abundant. Since it rained a day ago, Ocotillo was in flower. These plants only flower after rain. Their bright red flowers stood out sharp on the bland desert landscape, adding a nice accent to the various shades of green and yellow.

A bit higher the individual desert plants were overwhelmed by shrubs and bushes, like Common Manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita). The grass became more abundant and gained height. Occasional oak trees protruded through the scrubland, until it was smothered completely in the short evergreen deciduous trees. The change of vegetation in relation to the elevation is reverse to that in Scotland. Here, the vegetation became more abundant, dense and gained height as the elevation increased and the climate became cooler.

The oak woodland was followed by oak-pine woodland, with occasional juniper scattered under the high canopy. Near the top of the mountain and at the higher elevation oak-pine woods gave a way to pure coniferous woods. These exposed woodlands hosted a healthy population of mountain lions, mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and other woodland dwellers like black bear. Unfortunately, we did not encounter any mountain lions or bears on this hike. However, we remembered our first ever encounter with a bear. We were cycling through the extensive forests of Pennsylvania, when suddenly a black mother bear followed by 2 cubs crossed our path a few hundred metres in front of us. It was an unforgettable experience for folk like us. That first amazing sighting of this marvelous animal in wild. So sudden and unexpected.¨ Krista