Here’s How the Arizona Desert Bites
Over the weekend, we took a trip to Northeast Tucson at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains. While we waited for our friends to finish up some household chores, my husband and I decided to take a short walk around the area, and in doing so, violated every tenet of desert hiking.
We didn’t really plan this, but only intended to go a short distance. We didn’t take water, didn’t wear the right shoes, and we set off at about 1pm, approaching the warmest part of the day. It’s November, we reasoned, and we weren’t going far, and it wasn’t 110 degrees (it was 85 degrees, but who’s counting?).
Read more about the plants and animals here in Cochise County: Discover the Amazing Biodiversity of Arizona’s Sky Islands
So I, in my flipflops, and my husband, in his running shoes, took a short walk across an unfamiliar landscape. We passed towering saguaros standing sentry over the desert floor. Crossed a dry, shallow wash. Walked carefully past mesquites, prickly pear cactus, and creosote.
We found a clear wildlife trail with a wide range of animal tracks from quail to javelina to coyotes. The trail wended its way around plants, through the wash, and avoided problem patches in the landscape…