It’s Sunday morning, I’m heading west, and I’m heading fast. Ajo Way and State Highway 86 lies in front of me. My 16-year-old son is in the car with me. He’s sound asleep already. He probably stayed up too late on Saturday night watching TV. He doesn’t have a clue that I’m shanghaiing him into a world that will drive him nuts. No TV, no video games, no cell phone reception, no fast food and no advertising. We’re stepping into the west as it was.

The Great Desert

I watch the sun rise in my rear view mirror. The lights of Tucson are just going off as we leave the city. We enter the Tohono O'odham Reservation. I slow down to just seven miles over the posted speed limit. Out here, I need to watch out for Tribal Police, the BIA, INS, the FBI, DPS and possibly a few cows or steers that have escaped the barbed wire. Too many overlapping law enforcement agencies to drive like a total lunatic out here. (Adjacent photo: Joel Smith beside 15 foot organ pipe cactus)

No reason to speed anyway, I’m enjoying the country side. The saguaros are spotty; a clump here, none for a few miles then a few strays again. The cholla towers about six feet high and the ocotillo is bare.

The Journey

I think about times past. People I once knew come rushing forward in memory. Just ghosts of the past and in the past they stay. I don’t want to think of what was and what could have been. The desert always gives me a sense of inner peace when I step into it. Say good-bye to civilization and hi-tech razzmazztazz. Just me and nature at its best out here. Almost a purity to the concept. Glad that I took my son along. Maybe he can see the world for what it is someday without gadgetry doing that for him.

Small Papago villages like Pan Tak, San Vicente, Chiawuli Tak, Sells, Kaihon Kug, Vainom Kug, and several others show themselves on road signs. We drive past an old Papago cemetery. Saguaros and wooden crosses fill the lot. The Papagos once believed that saguaros were people in another time and form.

I keep an eye out for cattle and another for ranchers pulling out into the road without looking both ways. That’s one thing that I’ve learned over the years. The town of Why, Arizona is 120 miles from Tucson. It takes less than two hours to get there. I marvel at my time as I pull into the gas station.

(Photo above: Organ pipe cactus and saguaros amidst the Ajo Mountains)

I get us some bottled water and a Dr. Pepper for my son. The girl at the counter is surprised to see anyone this early. Less than 90 miles south is the Sea Of Cortez and the weekend beach tourists will be coming back to Tucson and Phoenix, but much later in the day. It’s about 75 degrees out, just a great morning. Twenty miles or so just to the south of us is the Organ Pipe National Monument. I set off south on State Highway 85 now.

We drive the road south and spot our first Organ Pipes. There are a few in Tucson, but it’s always better to see things in the wild if you can. The Organ Pipe Cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) can get to about 25 feet high. They can sprout dozens of arms. They are a columnar cactus of great beauty and majesty. We pull into the Park entrance and go into the visitor’s center. I check with the Park ranger. The southern roads are closed due to violent clashes with illegal aliens and drug smugglers. This is the only National Park in America where the Rangers are carrying firearms. I am told that the National Geographic did a great article about the problem, but no help has been offered yet from Washington D.C. The Northern Loop is safe I am told. I decide to spend the first hour looking over the camping areas. There are no hotels or resorts in the area. If you want to stay out here for more than just the day, this is it. No Hilton, no bath and no room service. My son reacts bitterly about my even joking about staying the night out here. He’s scanning the Ajo Mountains looking for civilization or any sign of it. The desert mocks him.

The Arrival

After an hour exploring the camping area, we cross Highway 85 and enter the National Park. Eight dollars will get you in, but there aren’t many folks checking for tickets. The road is dirt and poorly graded. I curse myself for not having a Jeep. I decide just to go slow and enjoy the Loop. The Loop is 21 miles and will take you to the foot of the Ajo Mountains and back. There are 22 places to pull out on the Loop. We stop up ahead and go out to explore the desert floor.

The stillness of the area just floods me. No noise, save the wind. My son is wandering around on his own actually looking at the cactus. I smile and go exploring on my own, and I come back out of a wash with my handkerchief wrapped around my finger. Silly me, I was going down the embankment of a wash and the sandy soil gave out on me. I should have checked the consistency before I walked down, but did not. I will just have to remember that this is Western Pima County, not Eastern Pima County. I’m not exactly at home out here. It will take more than an hour for the bleeding to stop. I remind myself to be more careful out here. No doctors anywhere near here. Before we get back into the car, my son shows me a cluster of Arizona Fishhooks (Mammillaria microcarpa) growing out here. He’s starting to get into the desert. Those are small and hard to find.

The Adventure

We drive on and stop at every pull out. The Organ Pipes are fantastic to see like this. The park is quiet with only a few folks out on a Sunday. At a scenic overlook at Diablo Wash, we meet a retired couple from British Columbia. Both of them are in awe at the landscape. They tell me that they feel like they’re on a different planet. I smile and agree with them, this is a far cry from the Canadian Rockies.

About half way into the Loop is the Ajo Mountains. My son is excited by a hole in one of the rocks. It reminds me of the Garden of the Gods in Colorado. (Adjacent photo) He spots a large cave atop the mountain and wants to race me up there. I smirk and agree to the challenge. He scampers up the trail faster than I, but to get to that cave, he has to enter the brush. I catch up to him there. He just plunges into the brush and makes slow progress. I spot the coyote trails and pass him up. Maybe it’s not as different as I had thought before. We get about three quarters of the way up and he doesn’t want to go on. It’s getting too steep. I agree to turn back, but urge him to follow me.

Coming back down, We find ourselves walking down a limestone wash. I find a brilliant Golden Hedgehog (Echinocereus nicholii) growing in the limestone. I point out how to judge rocks as we go down. Trying to teach him how to tell the difference between the rocks that you can put weight on as against the ones that will slide out from under your feet. He catches on quickly judging by the lack of sound from behind me.

We wait in the car at the pull out while someone drives ahead of us. I want to enjoy the scenery, not eat someone’s dust going down the road. My son and I talk about what we have seen here. We both noticed that someone has been cutting cholla all over the park. There are very few chollas with fruit still on them and no cholla droppings on the ground. We’re not sure if it’s the Papagos collecting the cholla or cactus collectors. The Papagos will eat the fruit and can eat the plant or use it for medical remedies.

(Photo: A large cave can be seen in the backdrop of the Ajo Mountains.)

We wander a few more times before the Loop ends. As I drive down the road slowly, some clown from California is tailgating me. He’s going to have to wait until the next pull out. I just don’t need someone on my rear out here. No reason for it. We pull over and wait for his dust to settle. It’s not fair; the ocotillos are still green and leafy out there, while ours are bare already. My son actually thanks me for taking him out here before we leave.

We pull into one of the two gas stations in Why to get something to munch on and to fuel up. I toss him the car keys. I had a great day out here and he did so much better than I thought that he would out in the desert. It’s still going to be a long drive back home, but it will be a good one.

This essay was contributed by Joel Smith in Tucson, Arizona, who also authored "An Adventure to Pistol Hill". His web site is BajaArizona.com.