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Please click here for Part Two
Whimsical
The Lady’s cell phone proves to be handy and she’s getting much better at handling all (well most) of it’s functions. One simple, very handy habit she has is taking a photo of maps that are displayed on signs. She can quickly refer back to the photo.
This map was posted in the campground. Studying it, the Lady announced we were driving Ajo Mountain Drive and hiking the Arch Rock and Estes Canyon and Bull Pasture trails. Sounded good to me.
Ajo Mountain Drive was as quiet as the campground. We saw only 3 or 4 other vehicles. We parked at the Arch Rock trailhead, where we began the hike.
The trail is maintained only to around the first bend entering the canyon. There is a carined user route that climbs up to a high saddle in the ridge. Up we went. There were no further views of the arch.
After taking in the view, we started down and returned to the truck.
Next up was Estes Canyon and Bull Pasture.
It’s a loop and we decided to ascend the steep ridge trail up to the Bull Pasture overview and return down Estes Canyon.
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After the trail intersects with the Estes Canyon trail, it switchbacks up a very steep gully and then climbs a steep ridgeline. We really enjoyed this section. Notice the trail blasted into the rock in the second photo below.
There’s a saddle in the ridge that gave an expansive view south into Mexico.
There’s more up.
We climbed to the next ridgeline and reached the overview.
We were both disappointed when we saw a use trail continued and we could have done a climb to the top of Ajo Mountain.
There was not enough time for us to do it today. Shucks. It’s on the list next time we’re back to Organ Pipe.
But we did enjoy an extended break here, snacking and taking in the stunning vistas.
We started down.
At the intersection we turned down the trail into Estes Canyon.
We did some off trail hiking in various places down Estes Canyon where we looked for archaeological sites - habitation and rock art. It was fun to search but we found nothing. Saguaros again took prominence on the landscape.
The Lady was fascinated with all the fun arrangements of arms and appendages saguaros can come up with. “Whimsical,” she said with a big smile. “They look so whimsical!”
The following day we ventured out on Puerto Blanco Drive.
Both the Lady and I were impressed with the interpretative signs in Organ Pipe NM. They are intelligently written with informative content.
The road turns to one way only at the Pinkley Peak Picnic Area.
Driving, we saw another whimsical saguaro that needed a closer look.
Our next stop was Dripping Springs.
“Whimsical” was the theme as we hiked out to the springs.
The Lady walked past Dripping Springs and announced we were going to the top of the ridge.
We came upon a historical inscription.
The views were superb up on the ridge.
We made our way back down and, this time, stopped at Dripping Springs.
We again spread out off trail and searched. The area looked good for possible archaeological sites.
We stopped at the Golden Bell Mine. There was an emergency call station set up here.
Please notice the dust cloud on the right in the above photo. We’d noticed the approaching dust cloud, obviously from multiple vehicles, and is a reason we made this stop. Someone was coming the wrong way up this one way road at us. It was a US military convoy of three humvees. They pulled to a stop beside our truck, saw us, and quickly left. I thought we’d get to chat and I’d get photos. It didn’t happen.
Our final stop was Quitobaquito Spring right on the border with Mexico.
This place is an oasis.
We searched for the source of the spring in the thick vegetation along the flow into the pond.
Hastily posted signs warned of “aggressive bees” and said to not enter. We are always cautious in the southwest with the possibility of encountering africanized honey bees.
We, of course, had access to the USGS 7.5 topo map for this area - always our "go to" base map. The topo map showed a grave about a third of a mile to the north. We searched for it.
And then we had to look at this thing.
We do like to search for things. Here we searched and searched and searched. We searched for the part of this wall Mexico paid for and we could not find it.
After the 2024 election a dear friend told us, “In less than a hundred years we’ve gone from the greatest generation to becoming the very country we fought against.” This place drove home the stark truth of that statement.
We drove back for our last night at the campground.
Where were we off to next? There was a change of plans. Our adventure continues. Please click here for - Part Four.
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