We flew to an area East of Lake Havasu, an old dirt strip that was used as an emergency landing spot during WWII. Bombers were training in this area and this strip was made in case they needed to land very quickly:
We brought sandwiches with us, and some drinks. After we enjoyed the world's most quiet picnic I went out in the desert to explore. Steve napped by the plane.
I found all kinds of interesting rocks, a geode, some petrified wood, tons of quartz, some small fossils, and a really good crop of cacti. Different kinds, like some HUGE saguaro:
So huge that the trunk looks like that of a tree, and it's starting to decay:
Eventually the roots will become exposed, likely from erosion or disease. And it'll look like this:
The spiny needles and pretty green skin:
Well that'll fall off like thick bark and what will be left is a skeleton:
A few years ago people in Havasu were paying lots of money to have lanscapers plant big tall saguaro skeletons in their yards. It was a fad. You don't see them anymore. People finally came to their senses. Now if you see one in a yard, it's because the house was foreclosed on. Saguaros actually do need water once in a while.
Another cactus I found plenty of was the cholla. It's pronounced CHOYA. They are nice and spiney:
But when they die and dry out, they look like this:
And from a distance it looks like a really big snake skin.
On my way back to the plane I almost stepped in a pretty good sized underground burrow. As I leaned towards it to take a picture, I heard the sound of something exhaling--as if to warn me that it was not too far inside the hole....
Well that was enough to send me running! After the photo, of course.
