How to choose which part of the vast Arizona desert to explore for new crested saguaros? Do you take just any old road? Serendipity certainly plays a role, but informed choices can increase the odds. For this trip, a closely-examined atlas revealed an untraveled Jeep road bordering a desert wilderness area, near where I'd found several crests a year earlier. A look at Google Maps satellite view confirmed the road passed many south-facing slopes covered with saguaros. With that, the die was cast ...
On the drive, I paused for an updated photo of this "yard crest" that Max had spotted 5 years ealier:
.jpg)
Photos dating back to early 2020:
www.crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai200/crest208.php
I finally reached the area I wanted to explore and settled into my usual routing of frequent pausing and glassing. Where the road topped a pass, I pulled over and my binos picked out two crests on a nearby hillside. The first was this top crest:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest375.php
The second, only a stone's throw away, was this arm crest (Extend-O-Cam view):
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest376.php
From the top of the hill, I took a look all around. Looking back toward Highway 93, I saw an ominous plume of smoke ... apparently after I left the highway, a vehicle caught fire and blocked traffic for a long way in both directions:

My binos also picked out three arm crests on a bigger hill nearby, but the sun was getting low so those would have to wait until the next day. I found a nice camping spot, and not long after sunset the desert became faintly illuminated by the light of a half-moon:

... and the planet Venus shone brightly in evening twilight (as you can see, this is a land of both saguaro and joshua tree):

And Ive been traveling through the dirt and the grime
From the past to the future, through the space and the time
George Harrison, "Any Road"
When the morning sun had taken the chill from the air, I began my hike toward the bigger hll:

At the base of the hill, I came to the first of the three arm crests:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest377.php
Near the top of the slope, the second arm crest. I wondered, how many before me have ever bothered to make this strenuous climb and have experienced this magnificent view?
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest378.php
I carefully traversed across the rocky slope to the third arm crest:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest379.php
As I started on a different route down the slope, the serendipity kicked in I found another small arm crest:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest380.php
At the base of the hill, I passed across a small rise scattered with the most chalcedony specimens I'd ever seen literally thousands of pieces!


Entering a gully, I found one more arm crest:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest381.php
Just before reaching my Jeep, I detoured to check out what I hoped would be another arm crest, but it turned out to be only a fat 3-way Y-arm:

I keep traveling around the bend
There was no beginning, there is no end
It wasnt born and never dies
There are no edges, there is no sides
George Harrison, "Any Road"
Back on the road, I passed a cattle tank ... the cows thought I was giving them the eye, but I was focused on the nice top-crest on the skyline behind them!

The view I had of the top-crest after I scrambled up the hillside:

crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest382.php
The same old story from that hill, I spotted another crest just up the road:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest383.php
Farther along the road, I paused to glass another slope and spotted another arm crest (Extend-O-Cam view):
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest384.php
... and from that vantage point, I could barely see the top of this crest just over the next ridge (note the rainbow-colored "sun dog" just to the right of the crest):
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest385.php
On the ground, an abstract pattern caught my eye the skeleton of a decaying prickly pear pad:

"I bet if I drive around the other side of this ridge, I'll find another crest!" Sure enough:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest386.php
And once again, from that slope my binos picked out another crest. Luckily, it was right next to the road and it was a rare double-crest:
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest387.php
By that time the sun was setting, so I hurriedly found a flat spot nearby to camp. As I set up camp, the sunset colors glowed in the west:

Later that night, moonlit clouds swirled above my campfire:

But, oh Lord, weve got to fight
With the thoughts in the head, with the dark and the light
George Harrison, "Any Road"
The morning brought clarity of skies and thought ... and an American kestrel, North America's smallest falcon:

I started off on one more day my last of following this winding road through the hills. This crested saguaro was so short, when I first spotted it peeking over a ridge I thought it might be a crested barrel cactus!
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest388.php
From the top of a hill, my binoculars and spotting scope identified a crest far in the distance (it turned out to be 1.7 miles away). Luckily a road passed closer to the crest, so I "only" had to hike half of that distance to get to it. This top crest one of the biggest I've ever found became the pièce de résistance for the trip!
.jpg)
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai300/crest389.php
My sight continually refocused from the large to the small, from the far to the near ... on the hike back to my Jeep, I found more beautiful chalcedony specimens:

Driving out of the mountains, I pulled over one last time to glass the foothills. My binos and telephoto lens picked out this big arm crest on a distant ridge, but I didn't have time this day to do the hike. SPOILER ALERT: I got close-up pictures later on a return trip ... stay tuned!

Before hitting pavement, I paused to get a quick updated shot of another rare double-crest just off the road:
.jpg)
My 2018 photos:
crestedsaguarosociety.org/crested/cryavapai100/crest165.php
This time, my planning had paid off 16 new crests in three days! But luck and a certain amount of wandering had also played a part ... I'd stumbled upon some fantastic sights. Half of the fun is not knowing exactly where you're going.
But, oh Lord, we pay the price
With the spin of a wheel, with the roll of the dice
Ah yeah, you pay your fare
And if you dont know where youre going
Any road will take you there
George Harrison, "Any Road"