Friday, March 1, 2013

Quitobaquito Van Tour And Hike

Friday: (03/01) I was up real early, had my corned beef hash and eggs and walked down to the Visitor Center. Lou decided not to go on this van tour because of the description by the ranger and warnings that all had to keep up. As it turns out it would have been no problem

Much of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is closed due to border patrol problems for the past few years. This van tour is provided by the National Park Service to an area this is quite nice but usually inaccessible. Only about 200 people get he tour each yearnow  and I was lucky enough to get one of the seats.

Quitobquito Tour



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Organ Pipe Quitobaquito Van Tour Organ Pipe Quitobaquito Van Tour
Quitobaquito is a desert oasis, a water source in the desert. The springs flow about 40 gallons per hour so there is a pond there.

Organ Pipe Quitobaquito Van Tour Organ Pipe Quitobaquito Van Tour
They have their own species of pup fish in the pond. In order to go out there first the park rangers secure the area. We were delayed in starting our tour due to some illegal aliens that were found and arrested in the area. Then we were escorted in and guarded while there by two rangers.

Organ Pipe Quitobaquito Van Tour
Our tour was also adjusted due to two new hives of killer bees at the pond. With all that, it is still a lovely place to see.

The tour returned a little after noon and Lou prepared a tuna salad for lunch. There are only two geocaches listed in the park. Usually the National Parks folks don't allow them. We went out to locate the one that is near the campground. We also took a drive out the open portion of the Puerto Blanco Road. Only a five miles of that 37 mile gravel road through the western side of the park is now open. This mornings tour was on the opposite end of that road. Dinner was chicken, baked potatoes and steamed carrots.

In the evening I finally uploaded pictures for the last couple of weeks blog entries.

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