ALAMO CANYON

HIKE OF THE MONTH

Trekking through Lush Cacti and Rare Oaks in Organ Pipe's Alamo Canyon In the predawn under a pewter sky, I drive south on remote State Route 85 through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a 516-square-mile pocket in the southwestern section of the state. As the first glimmer of pale orange washes across Montezuma's Head in the Ajo Mountains to the east, I wheel my truck to the shoulder to stroll across the desert toward the rising sun.

For more than an hour, I wander the plain, glancing up now and then to check dawn's progress. The desert here, always a colorist's rhapsody, is dazzling in this year of abundant rain. Colonies of teddy bear cholla, bearing an uncanny emerald-green cast, grow on the flats in dramatic contrast to the desert's muted browns.

Light laps at the mountain peaks and at the escarpments. Suddenly the sun rims a distant ridge and sends spreading shafts across the desert floor. An entire landscape flares to life.

Late that afternoon, heading into Alamo Canyon, I meet a Chicago couple starting out on a five-day backpack. It's two weeks before Christmas, a popular time when the monument attracts visitors from every state in the U.S. and from many foreign lands. Already today I've counted license plates from 12 states and overheard conversations in French and German.

The trail begins just east of the Alamo Canyon Campground and follows an old jeep track on the north side before dropping down past a ruined cabin to cross the wash. Again, I'm struck by the vigor of the desert plants. Organ pipe and saguaro cacti look plump enough to thump like watermelons. Luxuriant grasses grow where in past years I've seen only bare earth.

I follow the trail on the south side of the canyon until it passes a fractured concrete water tank and some tumbledown corrals. Then, beyond a defunct well shaft in the wash bed, the trail peters out. Bushwhacking up the canyon a short distance, I strike the track again, only to lose it farther on.

Without a clearly marked path, the surest way to navigate up or down a canyon is to boulder hop the drainage bottom itself, always a challenge, and I'm glad I thought to wear hiking boots and not my usual trail-running shoes.

At forks in the drainage, I find small pyramidal rock piles marking the way; but I can't trust them, having learned that cairns only indicate a path others have chosen, not always the easiest or best route. "I'll find my own way, thank you." (When it comes to a nose for blind alleys or entangling myself in briar thickets, I take a backseat to no one.) As always, but especially when hiking in Organ Pipe, I watch for things I'm not likely to find in other desert places. And before long I come upon a Quercus ajoensis, a small-leafed species of oak tree that grows nowhere else. The canyon narrows, walls steepen, shade envelops me. Feeling the rush of cold air draining into the canyon, I pull a sweater from my pack.

On the downstream side of a boulder choke, water surging over rocks from many years of hard rains has gouged a bowlshaped churn about four feet deep. I turn around and head back. Staying to the wash, I find more than 24 grinding holes in the bedrock beside a tinaja, or "rock pool." And just before the trail ascends the bank to the campground, I spot a single crimson blossom atop a slender stalk snugged up against a large boulder. Hummingbird trumpet, it's called, an evening primrose. A primrose for Christmas.

When You Go: From Tucson travel west 122 miles on State Route 86 to Why; then turn south onto State Route 85 and proceed 22 miles to the monument's visitors center where it is necessary to check in and pay a daily fee. Information on road conditions, trail access, trail maintenance, and special conditions also may be obtained there.

The best times to hike anywhere in Organ Pipe are spring, fall, and winter. Only very experienced desert hikers should attempt it in the summer. Always carry plenty of water. An absolute minimum for desert hiking is one quart per person; a gallon in hot, dry weather. Extras: camera, binoculars, trail food, a sweater, and windbreaker.

Additional information: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Rt. 1, Box 100, Ajo, AZ 85321; telephone: (602) 387-6849.

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS DECEMBER 1991 VOL. 67, NO. 12

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