Saturday, November 22, 2014 (Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Lukeville, AZ)

We actually "slept in" this morning...it was shortly after 7:00 a.m. when we crawled out of bed. We enjoyed our usual start to the day and then got ready to head out for a hike.

It was 10:15 when we left the trailer and after stopping at the camp host site to let them know where we were going, we continued onto the trailhead for the Victoria Mine Trail.

 (Click in pictures to enlarge)

It's described in the literature as a 4.4 mile (7 km) easy trail that meanders across the Sonoran Desert to historic mining structures...crossing several arroyos (washes). It's one of the many trails of the Puerto Blanco Mountains.

A huge chain fruit cactus behind Steve...

This is looking towards the border with Lukeville, AZ and Sonoyta, Mexico....and the Sonoyta Mountains in Mexico...

Time to take my sweater off and stuff it in my backpack...it's nice that there are a few benches along the way...

We were greeted at the Victoria Mine site with this warning sign...

This covers a vertical shaft...

What a view!

Above the mine shaft...

Mine shaft entrance is buried...

Our campsite is a little beyond Twin Peaks Mountain on the right...

Time for a snack in the shade...

Packing up...time to head back...

Twin Peaks in the distance...

About 3 hours later, we were back home. With the walk from our site to the trailhead, along with all of the walking around the mine site, my GPS said that we had walked 5.6 miles (9 kms). This is the reverse side of the trail map. We only saw four other hikers all day and so far have felt very safe here. 

The rest of the afternoon was a repeat of yesterday...RnR at it's best, relaxing in our chairs outside! I couldn't figure out what Steve was taking a picture of. After some research, he found out that it is a Red Velvet Ant which are actually hairy wasps. So why didn't they just call it that? (Steve here) Only the female delivers a sting which can be painful. (Figures!)

The end of another fabulous day...with a beautiful sunset! It's actually a great time to be here as it's not busy and is extremely quiet. The star viewing is awesome as there is no light pollution.

After dinner, we spent quite a bit of time on Skype...Rob and Angie called and we had a great chat with them and, of course, Conner...so good to see him (and them), we sure miss him! While we were chatting with Rob, Angie and Conner, Steve's uncle also called, so once we said goodbye to Conner, we called Gordon and Esther and had a lovely chat with them...it was so wonderful catching up!