Idiot Daughter the Eldest attended a summit with the Idiot Parental Units in late spring, 2017. Sightseeing, shopping, naps, and pinochle ensued.
State law requires that all Snowbirds (northern immigrants) who buy homes in Arizona must buy white Jeeps. The Idiots complied. Even their two-wheel drive Patriot can negotiate several fine gravel roads into the Santa Rita Mountains near Green Valley. The Idiot family planned their expedition carefully. As they approached the end of the paved road, even three Idiots could tell that there wasn’t enough gas in the tank and that the wilderness is a very poor place to run out of gas. Mission aborted!
The next day, with gas in the tank, their foray was successful. The first road they climbed is the service road for the equipment on Antenna Hill. Located just behind – to the East – of the landmark Elephant Head (a large rocky extension into the desert that in no way resembles an Elephant Head), the road emerges at tree line to reward visitors with sweeping views of the Santa Cruz River Valley.
The Santa Cruz is one of those rivers that disturbs rigid folks like Idiot He who learned from the roll-down map in his elementary school classroom that rivers in the US run south – which is sensible because water runs downhill and south is the bottom of the map. The Santa Cruz actually flows north up the valley from Sonora, Mexico to Tucson and eventually joins the Gila River west of Phoenix.
The Sonoran desert is home to a viciously-thorned desert shrub that produces tall canes. The plants are more “interesting” than attractive most of the year – excellent additions to the garden if the goal is to keep people out of that part of the gardem. But near the beginning of April, the Ocotillo blooms and the forests of Ocotillo provide a spectacle of red blossoms held high to show off their brilliance against blue Arizona skies.
At the viewpoint on Antenna Hill road – looking down on the valley, the volcanic and uplift groups of mountains known as “sky islands” and the approach road winding its way up the canyon.
Some find the desert a barren place – but they just aren’t looking closely enough. The stark surroundings just serve as a textured backdrop to some amazing plants. Some examples… Yucca, purple-tinged Prickly Pear Cactus, white Spiny Poppy, and Indian Paintbrush.
The afternoon became somewhat hazy, but one can still pick out the narrow winding road that provides access to Whipple Observatory on Mt. Hopkins.
Mt. Wrightson, the highest in the Santa Ritas, towers 9,453 feet above sea level – about 6,500’ above the valley below. After stretching their legs and taking a few photos, the Idiot clan retraced their route back down the 9 miles of gravel to pavement that could carry them toward food and naps.
