That is the question I always ask myself when I roll into town with a bunch of tips ... is there any joy in documenting crested saguaros that someone else has found? Since I know exactly where they are and can go straight to them, isn't it kind of like shooting fish in a barrel? But I persist, for I know that this will lead me into some fantastic places, give me a chance to find some new crests along the way — and (on this trip) be joined by other members of the Crested Saguaro Society!
My first stop was in the far outskirts of Tucson, where I paid a visit to Phil and Fran Kozol. I congratulate Phil on his recent 90th birthday! After enjoying conversation over a meal, I thank Phil and Fran for their hospitality and the parting gift of some of Phil's homemade salsa. As I drove away, I plotted a route to my campsite that would take me past a few of my crested saguaro tips. This first one is a tip from Mick Wedley — an easy catch since it's right in a front yard:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1377.php
Next I took a short hike to another crested saguaro, and happened to spot a crested cholla cactus beside the trail:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/mutant/cholla/crest37.php
The crested saguaro was a double-tip; I'd gottn the location from Mick as well as an online video:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1378.php
On the hike back to the trailhead, my eye was caught by the emerald flash of a hummingbird:
My next stop was a quick dash into an open area behind a neighborhood, for some more Mick saguaros. This weirdo was not-quite-crested:
... a very nice top crest hiding in the bushes:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1384.php
... and a tiny twin-crest that would be almost impossible to spot from a distance:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1383.php
After returning to my vehicle, I had just enough time for one more quick one ... this crest was jsut a few hundred feet off a street:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1386.php
On the short walk back to my vehicle, I used the last rays of the disappearing sun to illuminate this feather:
I made it to my campsite soon after sunset, and watched the cloud patterns in the darkening western sky:
Your instincts are your inner compass; let them guide you to your true north.
— Harvey Mackay
The next morning I decided to head out to a neighboring town. On the way, I pulled off on the shoulder of the highway for a quick updated photo of this saguaro; it has crested out nicely since Pat Hammes gave me the tip 7 1/2 years ago:
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2018 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima500/crest572.php
Another quick pull-off farther down the highway; this one has also really crested out since Bob Cardell and Pat first documented it 17 years earlier:
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Photos dating back to 2008:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima300/crest327.php
Once in the town, I quickly knocked off several tips that were only a shot drive apart. The tip from this path-side crest came from an online video:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1387.php
Bob and Pat's C1732 is a huge top crest tucked into an open space between some houses:
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Bob and Pat's 2011 photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1200/crest1242.php
This one is in a back yard; thanks To Ted Codding for passing on the tip and giving me the owner's contact info so I could get access:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1388.php
Nearby, I took updated photos of this front-yard crest; with its badly-scarred trunk I was surprised it's still standing:
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Photos dating back to 2007:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima300/crest370.php
Not too far away; another front-yard beauty. In the last 7 years, the crest has noticeably grown and the owners have removed some trees that obscured the saguaro:
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2018 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima900/crest935.php
While I was photographing the saguaro, a house finch perched on top of the crest:
This front-yard saguaro has wildly crested out and split since the owner planted it and gave us a tip on it 12 years earlier:
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2014 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima300/crest371.php
Mid-day, I stopped for lunch then drove back into the Tucson area. I spent the rest of the afternoon hiking in a local preserve where I had several tips. First was Mick's very nice arm crest:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1382.php
I decided to follow my instincts and walk cross-country in a somewhat random direction. I found this Y-split saguaro, and we all know what that means — crests may be nearby!
I was screamed at by a circling red-tailed hawk; I reassured the nervous parent I was looking for a crest, not a nest!
My walkabout happened to take me to this huge arm crest, one of the biggest I'd ever found. I was confident no one else could have had such luck, but then I noticed footprints nearby. As it turns out, when I met Harry Ford and Mick the next day they told me they had gotten a tip on it the same day I found it. Those were Mick's footprints — he'd been there only two hours before me! But in the end, the joke was on all of us, since Ted informed us that Bob and Pat had documented this arm crest almost 20 years earlier!
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Photos dating back to 2006:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima500/crest538.php
Continuing my walk, I found what I call an "octopus" saguaro — dead, with multiple collapsed arms splayed in all directions:
A mutant ... maybe an example of a segmented saguaro ?
My route took me by this top crest I'd found 4 years earlier:
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My 2021 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1100/crest1128.php
I appreciated the symmetry of this ant hill:
At the far point of my hike, Mick's big top crest:
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Mick's 2025 photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1381.php
Based on an online video, I'd unsuccessfully tried to find two small arm crests on an earlier visit. This time I found both. The first:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1389.php
And not far away, the second:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1390.php
I realized I had less than an hour til sunset, and was still a mile away from the parking lot, so I made a beeline back. On the way I spotted this not-quite-crested barrel cactus:
I kept my eyes open for more arm crests, but only spotted a Y-arm:
The low angle of the sun made for dramatic skies:
On the drive back to my campsite, I witnessed the last sliver of sun before it disappeared behind the distant mountains:
Just feel the magic in the air and the power in the breeze, feel the energy of the plants, the bushes and the trees, let yourself be surrounded by nature at its best, calm yourself, focus and let magic do the rest.
— Sally Walker
The next morning I met Harry and Mick for a couple of hikes in Saguaro National Park. The primary objective of our first hike was this small top crest — a tip I'd gotten from an online video:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1391.php
Nearby was this older crest which I've visited several times over the years (Bob and Pat's C345):
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Photos dating back to 2006:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima200/crest241.php
This red-tailed hawk didn't screech, but was definitely aware of our presence:
Our route back to the trailhead took us past this saguaro, which has crested out nicely since I last photographed it 6 years earlier:
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2020 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1000/crest1010.php
We also passed by this mutant/Y saguaro:
Back at the trailhead, I scanned the slopes above with my binoculars, and happened to spot a crested saguaro clinging to the top of a cliff. SPOILER ALERT: Mick and I would return the next day to hike up to it!
Our second hike was from a different trailhead a bit down the road. I'd had a tip on a ring crest in the area, and we found it easily:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1392.php
We noticed this shared-root saguaro just up the hillside ... not a twin or triplet, but six trunks that perhaps share roots!
As we continued our hike, Harry spotted this newbie top crest:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1393.php
Mick spotted this mutant/Y nearby, so we detoured over to it:
Here, Mick documents a nearby top crest that I'd found 8 years earlier:
2018 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima900/crest911.php
As we made a loop around some saguaro-covered hills back to the trailhead, of course we kept our eyes open for more crests. Mere seconds after I said "There has to be another crest somewhere out here," I spotted this short and unusually-shaped crested saguaro on the slope right in front of us:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1394.php
It was early in the season, but we saw a few scattered wildflowers. Mexican gold poppy:
One patch of ground we passed had several specimens of chrysocolla, a blue-green copper ore (no collecting in the national park!):
After saying farewell to Harry and Mick, I still had a few hours of daylight left. I decided to track down a couple more tips I'd gotten from online videos. The first on, this arm crest, took a bit of wandering because it turned out to be on the other side of the road from the trail I thought it was on:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1395.php
Back on the road, I quickly paused to check up on a known arm crest I hadn't seen the last few times I'd driven by. Unfortunately I found it down and decayed:
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2014 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima300/crest378.php
The second tip was a mile in on a trail, but I thought I had enough daylight left. On the hike in, I watched the moon rise above the trail:
I made it to the second tip, a small top crest, after more scrambling than I was expecting:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1396.php
Since it was right by the trail out, I took an updated photo of this short crested saguaro that Harry had originally given me the tip on:
2025 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1343.php
The hike had taken more time than expected, so before I got back to the trailhead I watched the sun set behind a distant ridge — always a magical sight. But I had enough twilight to see the trail, and withought the sun beating on me the last half-mile of the hike was delightfully cool.
Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
— Buckaroo Banzai
Early the next morning, Mick joined me to scramble up to the cliff-top crested saguaro I'd spotted the day before. It was a bit more of an effort than anticipated (isn't it always?), but we made it:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1397.php
Nearby, Mick spotted another mutant-Y:
From the ridge, we had great views of the spreading metropolis below:
On the scamble back down, Mick pointed out some chalcedony geodes trapped in the volcanic bedrock:
We remarked that there were plenty of young saguaros in the areas we'd been hiking through the last couple of days:
After saying goodbye to Mick, I decided to hike to another of his tips, in a different area of Saguaro National Park. On the hike I passed by Bob and Pat's magnificent C1011, and stopped for an updated photo:
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Photos dating back to 2008:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima600/crest640.php
I believe this is the first photo of a jackrabbit I've ever gotten; they always bound away before I can get my camera out!
I'm always looking for nature's patterns — like these ribs of a fallen saguaro:
From my route, I was able to get this telephoto shot of a ring crest I'd found six years earlier:
2019 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima100/crest199.php
... and a telephoto shot of this nearby golden saguaro:
2020 photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/other/othersaguaro/golden/golden29.php
This was Mick's tip — a short but sweet crested saguaro:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1380.php
On the hike out, I kept my eyes open for more crests, but only spotted this mutant-Y:
Bakc on this highway, I pulled over for an updated photo of this saguaro that I hope will someday stop splitting and really crest out:
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2018 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima900/crest912.php
One last stop in the national park, this short newbie top crest that Mick found (Extend-O-Cam view):
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1379.php
In the last moments of remaining sunlight, I photographed this crested saguaro in a front yard just outside the park:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1398.php
Keep Trying. Stay humble. Trust your instincts. Most importantly, act. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
— Yogi Berra
The next morning, before making the long drive home, I drove some of the dirt roads outside of the Tucson area. I started with this arm crest, a tip from an online video:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpima1300/crest1399.php
I saw a few more wildflowers this day. Desert evening-primrose:
A damaged many-arms saguaro:
This nice top crest was another tip from an online video:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest938.php
Desert globemallow:
At one point along the road, my binos picked out a crest way in the distance. Here it is at the limit of my telephoto lens:
I took a bearing and hiked toward it. On the way, I saw a few ocotillo blossoms:
After more than a mile of cross-country hiking (farther than I expected!), I arrived at the crest — a very nice discovery!
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest939.php
As is my habit, I hiked back to my vehicle by a slightly different route, so I could encounter new delights on the way back. Don't let anyone tell you saguaros don't sprout arms close to the ground!
After driving a bit more down the road, I took a fork and stopped to photograph another Mick tip — a handsome short top crest:
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Mick's photo:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest937.php
On a nearby back road, I paused for an updated photo of another old and battered crested saguaro I'm surprised is still standing (Bob and Pat's C219):
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Photos dating back to 2005:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal/crest17.php
Mick had given me directions to this roadside saguaro with a weird growth running up one side, which I think is a type of glomerate saguaro I've never seen before!
My last stop before getting back on pavement was for updated photos of this odd saguaro which I'd first noticed cresting out 7 years earlier:
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Photos dating back to 2019:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal600/crest662.php
In the end, my combination of planning and serendipity had made this a very enjoyable trip. I did indeed visit somsome fantastic places, found some new crests — and enjoyed the companionship of other Crested Saguaro Society members!
Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.
— Henry David Thoreau
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