Picacho Peak State Park, Arizona

March 1-2

Picacho Peak State Park is beautiful in the spring, and attracts a lot of visitors during the wildflower season. We saw a steady stream of day visitors coming through the park entrance to hike and photograph the early flower display. Reservations are definately recommended!

The Spanish word "Picacho" translates to "peak", so, the name in English would be "Peak Peak". 

This area is puncuated here and there with volcanic formations, which form a deep pass, a sharp ridge, and a broad, open valley. 

The pass formed in this rocky ridge is noted for being the site of the only Civil War battle fought in Arizona. . . the Battle of Picacho Pass. 

The battle was a small, fairly minor engagement, resulting in the deaths of 11 men. The Confederacy claimed victory as they killed Lt. James Barrett who was in command of the 1st California Cavalry. 

Fifteen years before this battle the Mormon Battallion passed this way, heading for California. 

Another monument has been erected honoring this group, as it was the first group to fly the United States flag in Tuscon. 

Monuments to this event, and other items of interest, are displayed on Monument Loop, near the entrance to the park.

Our campsite was on Loop B, which offers spacious sites and beautiful views of the surrounding desert all the way around. 

We settled in for the night, expecting it to be chilly, and were a bit surprised in the morning to find it had snowed! The peaks all around us were decorated with a thin coat of snow, most of which melted off by noon. In the photo below Picacho Peak is actually almost hidden by a cloud, behind the closer, and shorter peak that is more visible. 

Morning surprise! Snow on Picacho Peak

Once things had thawed out we headed in to the north side of Tuscon for a bit of stocking up before we move out to our next campsite, Kartchner Caverns.

With all the purchases stowed the pups and I decided another hike was in order. 

There are several well maintained trails in the park, this one leads paralell to the main road for quite a distance, and gave us really nice views of the wildflowers and surrounding mountains. Picacho Peak is center in the distance in this photo. It's double, sharp peak is very distinctive from some angles.

One of the best features of this Sonoran Desert landscape is the dramatic sunsets and sunrises, made even better by the striking sillhouetts of the saguaro cactus. 

I never tire of their quirky shapes.