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Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

We only spent one night and two half days in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument the most deserted of National Monuments in all senses of the word. Hidden in a southern corner of Arizona just north of the Mexican border, it is dedicated to the cactus whose name it bears.

Camp site 187

Given that we arrived in the height of the summer's heat when the rangers recommend that you carry a gallon of water per person per day, you can perhaps guess that we did not have too much competition for campsites. Yes, we were camping again, possibly for the last time given that we were both very uncertain about the wisdom of camping in Mexico. There was one other couple in the campsite that night but despite the feelings we might have had for our fellow sufferers, we didn't approach them and so don't know what brought them here.

Organ Pipe Cactus

Organ Pipe Flower

We were happy, in fact, after reading several admonitions not to wander far from camp, not to meet any coyotes. Not the animal kind, you understand. These coyotes are people smugglers and the remote Arizona desert is the one place left where they have a chance of avoiding Federal Immigration agents. The danger is probably not too great, but we were a bit chastened to learn that the visitor's center was about to be renamed in honor of a ranger who was killed while on patrol this spring by smugglers of illegal immigrants.

We spent the afternoon after our arrival browsing around the visitor center for a while, then setting up camp and finally taking a short hike into the desert to see what could be seen. We didn't see much because Jan was anxious to be back before dark.

The next morning, however, bright and early, we set off to drive the scenic loop that would allow us to admire the organ pipe cactus in the wild in the only location in the USA where it grows. A secondary goal was to take a short hike to Bull Pasture. We managed both and still get to and across the border into Mexico in time to find a place to sleep.