Backroads Day 3 PM - Gates Pass - 25 Feb 2020
A quick lunch in the parking lot was followed by an offer from Lindsey and Daysha to drive Robin and me up to Gates Pass for a short 20-minute hike before needing to head back to Tuscon for lunch at the Mercado and our next hotel stay.
The western side of Saguaro National Park is gorgeous, with massive Saguaro Cacti covering the mountainsides. I took the opportunity to grab photos and panoramas of the hills and flora against cerulean blue skies.
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| Fairy Duster (Calliandra eriophylla) |
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| Bahia sp. or prickly-leaf? |
As I headed back to our meeting point I stopped long enough to get a few pics of the cacti. We did see a few people this morning wander into the cactus and they were not happy about it.
Lindsey arrived, and we drove to the Mercado for a lovely afternoon lunch in an open market.
Winds were starting to pick up pretty strong, so we were happy to have skipped the ride today. Instead, we’d walk up the street to a neat little market made up of converted shipping containers.
As everyone else took to the bikes for a 20-mile ride to the Hacienda Del Sol Robin and I kept Lindsey company in the van. We would arrive at a beautifully converted boarding school filled with gardens, sculptures, fountains, and casitas scattered next to a hillside with stunning views of the valley below and Santa Catalina Mountains above.
I’d spend the afternoon downloading photos from the day’s shoot but would stop long enough to photograph a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk soaring overhead while a male Phainopepla would stand sentry atop a nearby shrub.
