Hickiwan Trails

I've been wanting to visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for quite a while now, but it's remote. VERY remote. They have a campground inside the park, but there are no hookups. We're in the desert, we should have plenty of sunshine to collect with our solar, right? We've had a bunch of days of gloomy storm clouds and a bunch of rain. And everywhere we go, there are signs that warn about AZ flooding. Who knew? Makes sense when I think about it, because the ground really doesn't absorb the rain that well, but they do only get about 13 inches a year. At any rate, I got a tip for where to look for a campground, and we ended up at Hickiwan Trails. We're on reservation land, the Tohono O'Odham nation.

Our Site

It was raining when we arrived, so all that ground surrounding our trailer was mud. This is the first time since we've had our trailer that we've had to deal with mud. Don't bring those muddy shoes inside!!!! Like I said, though, we've had many days recently where it's been rainy and cold, so we're a bit stir crazy.

The Mountain

This became our goal. Climb the mountain. Ok, it was only three of us, and it was a spur of the moment goal. But the manager of the campground said we could feel free to walk off trail, so we did. G, NB, and I set off on our hike, and NB decided he wanted to climb a mountain.

Green Ocotillo

I took plenty of pictures along the way. G's in front of an ocotillo plant. All the ones we've seen from Big Bend on have been dead looking sticks. After much rain, we've got some green ones around!!! It really does change their looks quite a bit.

The Climb

The climb was steep, with a lot of loose rocks. Many a time we slipped while going up (and again going down!), but we kept going. So close to the top, we were a bit thwarted. It seemed as if there was no way to get to the top. I got involved. No way were we not getting to the top, we were only a few feet (straight up) from it. Hmm.... I fell. HARD. Both my hands and my left side from my hip to my knee got banged up. And since I fell and bounced and slid about five feet, I freaked out G, who thought I might fall all the way back down. We agreed to end our hike, though we're going to come back at a later time and find a way to the top.

Mountain Climb Part 2

K also wanted to go on a hike. We were told that there is a woman who paints rocks and leaves them around the desert for visitors to find and take home. We wanted to find some of those rocks. Not so easy. Along the way, I decided to try and conquer another mountain. These, by the way, are baby mountains, but they are quite a good climb.

The Top

We made it to the top! It was just an outcrop on the mountain, so we didn't make it to the top of the mountain, but we climbed the part we set out to climb. And I didn't fall! The kids do send a bunch of loose rocks flying towards me, though.

Organ Pipe

And we saw some organ pipe cacti along our path. Just at this mountain, though. I wonder why they're nowhere else?