I honestly have been on the lookout for this week’s saguaro since starting Saguaro Saturdays. As you look below, you will see the classic shape of a saguaro, as often depicted in graphics as the true icon for Arizona and the desert southwest. The trouble is, finding this shape occurring naturally in the desert is actually far more rare than you might expect.
As fate would have it, this specimen is actually along the 3 mile commute from my home to my office, within McDowell Mountain Ranch. It’s in the median along Bell Road, and now seems so obvious that I wonder why it took me so long to spot. FYI, in the background of the photo on the left is Bell Pass. If you are fit, and have a few hours to kill, the hike up Bell Pass is very much worth the effort. It is, however, a moderately strenuous 3.5 mile hike, which gradually gets steeper and steeper as you near the top. The views from the top range east over Fountain Hills to Four Peaks, and west across North Phoenix and Scottsdale all the way out to the White Tank Mountains (and beyond). I’ve personally descended the trail on my mountain bike, but always climb from the back side.
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This is a lone soldier I see! I like the background behind it too.. ‘Bell Pass’
A few hours to kill? What would it take a beginner hiker?
This time of year, no one’s climbing Bell as it just takes too long. But in the fall it’s not too bad. About the same vertical as Squaw Peak or Camelback, but twice the length.