At the time I went on this hike I had been wanting to hike
it for quite some time and although I was having a bit of a rough time at the
end of it due to the heat, I’m so glad I went.
I tasted a lot of different “desert foods” and even harvested my own
fruit from a Saguaro using a tool much like the ones the Hohokams of this area
used long ago.
It was a small group that I hiked with which was actually
good given the nature of the hike, and we saw so many interesting things,
including a glimpse of a rattler.
We began by going down the old Spur Cross Road which, I believe, was
once a stagecoach path, where we saw a jojoba plant. It is the female jojoba plant that produces
fruit, and they taste a bit like a strong, bitter coffee. In fact, the seeds can be ground into a
powder to produce a coffee-like drink.
It was around here that we also saw an odd looking fly sitting on the
barbed-wire fence. I would learn on a
later hike that they make a sound not unlike a bunch of people talking in the
distance. We would see another one later
on in the hike.
I believe it was also here that we saw a rattler. One of the hikers in our group saw it off to
the right of the trail, but the rest of us only got a glimpse of it as it went
into the brush. Next, we came to what I
believe was an Ironwood tree, which is found only in the Sonoran desert. The two-inch pods contain one to four seeds,
and are eaten by many animals. The seeds
had a nutty, pea-like taste.
A little further down the trail we came to a prickly pear
cactus, which are found in all of the deserts of the Southwest. The prickly pear cactus is used to make
everything from juices to candy to jellies.
Ranger Kevin cut one of the fruits open for us and you can see a good
shot of it in one of the photographs below.
We soon came to a metate, which was used over 1,000 years
ago to grind grain and seeds. We were
now on the Metate Trail, and I’ve seen this particular metate a number of times
before while hiking out here. We also
saw something really interesting here, something I had never seen before. It was a praying mantis egg case, which will
hatch 100 – 200 tiny mantises, all at once.
In the Spur Cross Conservation area one can see the inside
of a very large cactus lying on its side.
The wood is completely exposed.
When we came to it, we saw a lizard on one end of it, and a butterfly on
the other. We watched for awhile, and
although it looked as though the lizard was going to make a meal of the
butterfly, I’m happy to say the butterfly eventually flew away.
We then came to a man-made pond in a beautiful area of the
conservation area. It’s a very tranquil
area, and a wonderful place in which to see wildlife. There is a camera attached to one of the trees in this area, and on another hike out here Ranger Kevin showed us some pictures of the wildlife that come to this area at night. There’s also a bench out there on which one
can sit while enjoying this amazing area.
Toward the end of the hike is when we got the opportunity to
harvest our own fruit from the Saguaro cactus.
The Hohokam would put together a pole of sorts which they would use to
pull the fruit down from the cactus, and Kevin had made one similar to the ones
the Hohokam used. The Hohokam’s made the
poles so that they could either pull the fruit down from the top, or poke it
underneath until it fell. I was able to
pull a fruit down and taste it on the hike as well as bring one home for later. Needless to say, this was an amazing
hike!
I think this is where we saw some petroglyphs off the trail.
I believe this is the Jojoba Plant.
It's a little tough to see, but this is that odd-looking fly sitting on the barbed-wire fence.
Ranger Kevin
I believe these are the seeds of the Ironwood Tree.
Prickly Pear Cactus
This is the fruit of the Prickly Pear Cactus.
Prints that an animal left behind.
Ocotillo Cactus
Some of the cactus out here are huge.
The praying mantis egg case.
This is the praying mantis egg case up close. *shudder*
This is a metate, which was used to grind grain and seeds.
The wood of a very large cactus.
He's tough to see in this picture, but there's a little lizard sitting on the cactus wood. It's so interesting how well all these little creatures blend into their surroundings. Isn't nature amazing?
This is a close up of the little guy in the previous picture.
This is a picture of a butterfly sitting on the cactus wood.
This is the man-made pond. The following six pictures are of the same area.
Ranger Kevin pulling fruit down from a Saguaro.
Fruit from the Saguaro.
