The crested saguaro, or more specifically, the search for crested saguaros, is my meditation. Whenever my thoughts meander and tumble blindly, the desert calls — inciting and inviting me. The transcendent moment occurs when I gaze upon the saguaro forest and scan it with my binoculars. Then my pulse slows, my breath quiets, all other thoughts dissipate, and time loses all meaning. A sense of peace posesses and caresses me, and the beauty of nature shines all around me ...
As usual, the transition from pavement to dirt kicked off this adventure. Also as usual, there were updated photos to take ... I first photographed this newbie crest by the side of the dirt road back in January. Even though it's been only 9 months, the crest has noticibly widened!
January 2024 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest922.php
Another updated photo of a roadside crested (or glomerate) saguaro. Amazingly, Ted recently notified me that he'd photogrpahed this same sagauro way back in 2006, when the tip was just barely starting to show an unusual pattern!
Ted's 2006 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal600/crest653.php
Ted had also recently passed along a tip on another newbie nearby, so I checked it out. Again, it has noticibly widened in just a few months:
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May 2024 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest925.php
As it happens, that newbie is only a few hundred feet from this big old crest (Bob & Pat's C124), so I grabbed an updated photo:
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Photos going back to 2005:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal/crest10.php
While I was there, I realized I should be able to spot a big top-crest I'd previously documented high on a hill more than a mile away. Even with my binoculars, I couldn't see it, but I took a telephoto shot anyway and later identified the crested saguaro while looking at the photo on my home computer:
2017 close-up photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal600/crest621.php
I spent the remaining hour of daylight left to me exploring a Jeep road that wound high into the nearby hills. Of course I was hoping to make a new crest discovery, and sure enough I found this one:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest926.php
I also spotted a couple of not-quite-crested Y/mutant saguaros nearby:
Driving out of the hills, I passed an abandoned ranch building, slowly decaying back into the desert:
Just as the sun was setting, I found a good spot to camp. Later, the planet Venus shone brilliantly in the western twilight:
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
They call me on and on across the universe,
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe.
— John Lennon, Across the Universe
The next day, Harry and I had agreed to give a "crested saguaro tour" to Abby, a writer who was working on a crested saguaro article for a magazine (Ted and Pat had done the same the day before, in the Tucson area). We met at Harry's house, where we were greeted by Harry's wife Caraleen. Harry gave us a brief tour of their back yard, including a couple of crested barrel cactus (golden barrels, in this case):
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/mutant/barrel/crest142.php
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/mutant/barrel/crest143.php
... and a crested red torch cactus:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/mutant/red_torch/crest2.php
Our crested saguaro tour began with this one in Harry's neighborhood ... looking healthy, but with a troubling lean:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal200/crest211.php
Then we hit the highway, back towards the town of Florence. First, I led our little group to this big crest that I'd discovered two years previously; in that short time the saguaro had lost its only arm:
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December 2022 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal700/crest772.php
At our next stop, Harry and Abby admired this unique "hug" saguaro:
Photos dating back to 2007:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal/crest2.php
Then, this nice top-crest that I'd also discovered two years previously:
November 2022 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal700/crest770.php
The road took us within sight of another crested saguaro that was also discovered two years previously, by Ted. We didn't walk over to it, but I snapped this photo from the road:
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2022 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal500/crest591.php
As we walked cross-country to the last crest I wanted to show off, we found this nice arm crest:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest927.php
When we reached the location of the final crest, I was saddened and dismayed to find it dead and down. The huge crest had appeared to be in good health the last time I visited it, only two years previously. We spoke of the cycle of birth and death, the Circle of Life — this expanded perspective lifted my gloom, and by the time we returned to our Jeeps the sounds of laughter had returned to the desert.
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2018 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal600/crest650.php
After bidding farewell to Harry and Abby, a couple hours of daylight remained, so I drove some more of the local backroads. I checked up on this Y-split with a strong cresting pattern that I'd noted four years previously, but it still hadn't crested out:
I also found this tiny arm crest; even such small discoveries bring me big delight!
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest928.php
I found another good campsite, and was surprised to see a desert tortoise shell underneath a nearby palo verde tree:
The sunset colors danced before me, and I was an appreciative audience:
Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing
Through my open ears inciting and inviting me.
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns,
And calls me on and on across the universe.
— John Lennon, Across the Universe
The next day, a steady drizzle began. I decided to continue my quest, but from the warm and dry comfort of my Jeep. From the window, I took an updated telephoto shot of a saguaro that was just beginning to crest out when I spotted it three years previously:
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January 2022 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal700/crest761.php
... and this one, from four years previously:
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September 2020 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal700/crest724.php
I turned onto a track I'd never driven before, and pools of sorrow became waves of joy when I spotted this "mini-hug" arm crest. During the walk over to it, an umbrella kept me dry:
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest929.php
I wasn't the only one hampered by the rain; this bird was struggling to dry its feathers:
A different kind of saguaro oddity:
Finally, I'd had enough of the seemingly endless rain, and turned towards the highway ... and home. But the area held one last surprise ... this tall top-crest that I'd never noticed, even though it was only a few hundred feet from the main dirt road and a campsite I've used several times over the years (most recently in February):
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crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/crpinal900/crest930.php
My meditation session had accomplished its goal. Not only had cares and worries slipped away, but a deeper truth had come into view. From the flowing patterns within a crest, to the galaxies that turn in the immensity of space — all are part of the same universe, limitless and undying. This particular adventure has come to an end, but others stretch endlessly into the future; they call me on and on ...
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Nothing's gonna change my world.
— John Lennon, Across the Universe
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