It had been a year since I'd visited the Tucson area, and during that time I'd saved up a bunch of tips on crested saguaros. So on this trip I spent three days in a mad dash, driving around the city and its surrounding hills — a marathon powered by my radio's rock and roll, and a relentless drive to collect them all. Fortunately, the days are long this time of year — each day it was a race to see if my energy or the sunlight would run out first!
I began with a hike in Saguaro National Park, where some of the saguaros were already blooming:
... as were the ocotillos:
I easily found this short crest that Harry Ford had given me a tip on:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1343.php
I hiked back below hillside of saguaros glowing in the late-afternoon sun:
Next I boogied over to Tucson Mountain Park for another hike. It had been nine years since I visited this crested saguaro; it has crested out very nicely in that time:
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2015 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima800/crest843.php
Returning to the trailhead, I noticed a crested cholla by the trail — but unfortunately the small crest was dead:
After that hike, I had to quickly find a boondock camping spot before the sun went down.
When the lights are faded to black
And only stars are guiding me back
I'll keep running
To the place I belong
— James Bay, "Running"
The next morning I was up early; my first stop was this crest on private property. I had to settle for telephoto shots over the fence:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1344.php
This newbie was right next to a busy higway; no doubt it will be turning many drivers' heads when it fully crests out in the years to come!
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1345.php
Then I took a steep, rough hike in Tucson Mountain Park; this was the view from the trail:
A mutant/Y saguaro along the trail:
Finally I came to the nice top crest I'd had a tip on:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1346.php
Next I drove to Phil Kozol's house, where he presented me with one of the CSS t-shirts he's had made:
Then we piled into his Jeep for a tour of some of his finds along the local back streets:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1335.php
We'd independently found this multiple-Y; I'd been monitoring its progress for several years:
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2020 photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1347.php
This crest was short and sweet:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1336.php
This one looks like it might develop into a ring crest:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1334.php
Like so many crests in this area, this one is tucked away on a — for now — undeveloped lot:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1348.php
I'd visited this nearby big crest before, but it had been (checks notes) 14 years!
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Photos dating back to 2006 (Bob and Pat's C491):
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima100/crest183.php
Next, Phil and I checked out two crests I'd had tips on. First, this short odd specimen:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1349.php
Second, this clasically-shaped specimen:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1350.php
After our tour, Phil and Fran treated me to a relaxing lunch on their back patio. As I drove away, I paused to photograph this crested blue myrtle cactus in a neighbor's yard that they'd given me a tip on:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/mutant/cereus/crest22.php
Gonna push the clouds away
Let the music have its way
Let it steal my heart away
And you know I'm a-goin'
— John Fogerty, "Almost Saturday Night"
In the afternoon, my quest continued as a solo endeavor. I stopped to check up on this saguaro that I'd found on Google maps street view six years earlier, when it was first cresting out:
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2019 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima900/crest979.php
Only a block away was this one Ted Codding had given me a tip on:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1351.php
This little arm crest is on a big saguaro right next to a busy gas station — not exactly a wilderness experience!
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1352.php
This 3-way "Y" was also a Ted recommendation:
Another Ted tip:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1353.php
Two years earlier, I'd gotten a couple of separate tips on this small crest along a trail in Tortolita Mountain Park. On this day I finally did the short but steep hike up to it:
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2023 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima800/crest852.php
My long day finally came to an end as I rolled into a backroad campsite I'd stayed at several times before.
I'm runnin' down a dream
That never would've come to me
Workin' on a mystery
Goin' wherever it leads
— Tom Petty, "Runnin' Down a Dream"
The next morning I checked out four tips in and around the same wash, and found them all in a single loop hike. First crest:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1354.php
Second crest:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1355.php
The third was a ring crest:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1356.php
And the fourth was right beside a road:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1357.php
From that road, my binos picked out another crest behind a nearby house, so I made a side-hike over to it:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1358.php
Walking back to my Jeep, I found some nice hedgehog cactus blossoms:
... and a labyrinth, which I walked:
I wan't the only one traveling in the wash on this day:
Then I was off to another neighborhood. This was another tip, a very tall crested saguaro in a front yard:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1359.php
This massive ring crest in a back yard is another Ted Codding tip:
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www.crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1000/crest1016.php
At one intersection, I noticed this artwork — a candidate for my Giant Heads web page?
Late in the afternoon, I drove back to the Tortolita Mountains and hiked cross-country into the foothills to check on another tip. It took a bit of wandering around, but I found it:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1314.php
I also found some mysterious rock walls snaking across the landscape — built by Native Americans to funnel their prey?
After the hike, the sun dipped behind the Tortolitas as I raced down the road to find a campsite before sunset:
I found a good campsite, and watched the distant Pusch Ridge glow in the last light of day:
Oh, come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land ...
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey, I know it's late, we can make it if we run
— Bruce Springsteen, "Thunder Road"
On the drive homeward the next morning, I paused to check out a saguaro with two crested arms I'd spotted by the highway 6 years earlier. Unfortunately one of the crested arms had recently broken off and was on the ground:
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Photos dating back to 2019:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal600/crest664.php
Whew! During these few days, I'd bagged more than twenty new crested saguaros, and was finally tired of running (for a while). I rolled home for a well-deserved break, memories behind me and a song always leading me onward.
If I had my way, I'd shuffle off to Buffalo
Sit by the lake, and watch the world go by
Ladies in the sun, listenin' to the radio
Like flowers on the sand, the rainbow in my mind
— John Fogerty, "Rock and Roll Girls"
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