Saguaro National Park and Central Arizona (Day 9)

On the way to Saguaro National Park, E was surprised to learn we were a lot closer to Mexico than, say, Livingston is to Billings. I wondered: does the Nogales on the sign refer to Nogales Arizona, or its much larger twin Nogales Sonora?

Of the five national parks we visited, Saguaro was the only one where we didn't camp. Also, there is no camping in Saguaro National Park. The Park is divided into two units, with the city of Tucson intervening. We toured the West unit.

Saguaros splinter into a weird blown-apart skeleton after they die.

This one pointed our way out of the Park.

This happened a little South of Marana. 

I've remarked before that seeing names of faraway cities on road signs has always evoked in me a kind of Cassadian wistfulness. Besides San Diego, on this trip we saw signs directing us to Cheyenne, Reno, Boise, Denver, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, and El Paso.

These stack interchanges sure get piled up, though in Texas they sometimes grow five levels high.

As the afternoon ground on, we passed the Northern limit of the saguaro's range.

The climb North from Phoenix toward Flagstaff isn't kidding around. Not that it's particularly steep, but that it's an almost unrelenting slog. It's pretty though.

miles 39921.1-40157.1