Also unlike last year, we had the Mini in which to cruise,
so we widened our scope of the Park a bit. Ajo Mountain Drive is a pretty rough
and rocky road that takes you up around Ajo Mountain, past a couple of canyon
trailheads and a natural arch. The Mini prevailed mostly unscathed as Michael
skirted ruts and small boulders to avoid puncturing the oil pan. I don’t think anyone considers a Mini Cooper
a high clearance vehicle.
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| Highway 2 in Mexico |
Ditto to the skirting as we drove on a similar road that
took us to Quitobaquito Spring. This drive was 15 miles in and 15 out. It’s a
road that runs parallel most of the way to the fence separating us from Mexico.
Mexican Highway 2 runs on the other side.
Worth the wash boarded slow-going bump-fest, Quitobaquito is an oasis in
a desert, a spring fed pond that is home to the endangered Mexican pupfish, a two to three
inch fish that lives only in this habitat. (Oh! And by the Park’s Visitor Center
in a manmade pond - an Ajo Middle School project in 2006.) Four coots and a
duck swam on Quitobaquito pond. A couple of cottonwood trees grew at its edge –
amazing to see in a landscape of saguaro cacti, creosote shrubs and salt
bushes.
Noteworthy during our stay at Organ Pipe was the February
full moon. Back in MI it was called the
Snow Moon which makes sense, but what is it called in Arizona?
We took in a couple of evening ranger talks at the Park's amphitheater; one had to do with the importance of the dark sky, and the other with the mysteries of the universe. You can probably guess why. The relatively unpolluted night sky is considered an important resource at Organ Pipe. It’s a good place to go if you want to experience awe inspired humility under the Milky Way and a canopy of stars.
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