Text by Mary L. Peachin with photos by Mary L. Peachin and Robert McCallum
Vol. 19, No. 5
The dirt road curves from one scenic vista covered by majestic stands of saguaro to another winding its way through the Tucson Mountain Regional Park to the trailhead of Sweetwater Trail bordering the east side of Saguaro National Park West. Directional road signs along El Camino Del Cerro guide the hiker or horseback rider to the Sweetwater trailhead.
After a hundred yards, the trail forks with Sweetwater Trail going southwest and the Thunderbird Trail in the opposite direction. The Sweetwater Trail intersects the King Canyon Trail at 3.2 miles then continues another 1.2 miles to Wasson Peak.
Hiking Sweetwater Trail can easily satisfy the wildflower nature lover. During a spring desert flower bloom, this area of our Sonoran desert rates higher for its diversity of flowers and varied sizes and health of the saguaros and other cactus than Picacho State Park, Sabino Canyon, Organ Pipe National Monument, or Saguaro National Park East or West.
The elevation and southern sunlight exposure deserves credit for the magnificence of this lush desert garden. The abundance of brilliant, full yellow brittlebush mixed with blue lupine and fuchsia penstemon cover much of the trail.
After hiking along a gently rolling ridge for about a mile, the trail crosses a wash then begins to climb. Stone steps have been placed and carved into the hillside. Pack rats nest along these stair steps, leaving their tale tell signs of dried branches and jumping cholla spines they use to protect their nests.
As the trail ascends the mountain, the Tucson Valley can be seen with great views of the Catalina Mountains. The scar of the trail on the ridge of mountain leading to King Canyon and Wasson Peak becomes visible as you continue up the trail.
The gain of elevation brings new desert flowers and cacti to enjoy. Blooming ocotillo, new pads on prickly pear, scatterings of Mexican gold poppy, more lupine, blue phacelia, fiddleneck, and paperdaisy are everywhere. Apricot Globe mallow appeared to be rooted in trailside boulders.
A single yellow bloom of a prickly pear is paled by the brilliant orange color of half a dozen rare desert Mariposa. What a treat to discover this magnificent desert lily!
The list goes on since in an exceptional year for spring wildflowers. Those spring flowers and the dates of their bloom are contingent on winter temperature combined with just the right amount of rainfall. For the hiker, biker, or horseback rider, timing is everything. Blooms are not consistent in different areas of the desert. If there were no flowers blooming on Sweetwater Trail, the hiking would still be exceptional, there is interesting terrain, and one can become consumed by the beauty of the saguaros.
White stakes saying “road closed” distract from the view along the trail. Prickly pear and cholla have been planted as an unstated warning to the hiker to stay away from the less obvious “roads” that lead to open mine shafts. Copper mines were excavated all over this area of the Tucson Mountains in the early 1900’s. The remaining shafts are a serious hazard and should not be explored.
The landscape and the terrain make Sweetwater Trail very special, but it is only one of many options to enjoy Tucson’s desert flowers. They can be viewed from Picacho Peak, almost halfway to Phoenix to Saguaro National Park East, Sabino and Ventana Canyons and others eastside destination. When there is a banner year for spring flowers, hurry into the Sonora Desert. Sadly, they are short lived and there next showing is unpredictable.
The Saguaro
“The saguaro has been described as the monarch of the Sonoran Desert, a prickly horror, the supreme symbol of the American Southwest, and as a plant with personality. It is renowned for its variety of odd, all-too-human shapes it assumes, shapes that inspire wild and fanciful imaginings.”
The above quote found in the Official Map and Guide of Saguaro National Park may not fit our descriptions which would include “majestic, magnificent, and fascinating, etc.”
Tucson is fortunate that since 1933, this extraordinary cactus has been protected within the boundaries of East and Westside Saguaro National Park. The life of a saguaro is a struggle for survival.
According to the National Park Service, the saguaro begins its life as a shiny black seed no larger than a pinhead. One mature saguaro may produce tens of thousands of seeds in a year, as many as 40 million in its two hundred year lifetime. Few of these seeds survive.
The best opportunity for survival occurs when seedlings grow under “nurse trees” like the Palo Verde or mesquite. Nurse trees shade the seeds from intense desert sunlight, winter cold and even protect them from being eaten by rodents, birds, and other animals. Saguaros grow better on bajadas, the gently slopping plains at the foot of desert mountains.
Growth is extremely slow and usually occurs during summer monsoons. By the end of its first year, a seedling may measure only a ¼ inch. After fifteen years the saguaro may be a foot tall. It does not produce flowers or fruit until it is thirty years. At the age of fifty, the saguaro may grow to seven feet. Its first branch or “arm” may sprout at seventy five years.
By 100 years, the saguaro may have reached a height of twenty five feet. If it survives to 150 years, the saguaro may grow to fifty feet and weigh eight tons. The bulk of the cactus is supported by a strong, flexible cylinder-shaped framework of wood ribs.
These slow growing “monarchs” symbolize the magnificence of our desert and each one has its own personality for us to enjoy.