2006/02 Southwest USA trip (NM-AZ) - Organ Pipe Cactus national monument |
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The reservation ends at the town of Why, where we turned south into the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument. Why Why? The town is at a Y-junction, so its first name was “Y”, but the Post Office would not accept the name, so it
became “Why”.
The organ pipe is a common cactus in Mexico but this is about the only place it can grow in the USA, as it’s sensitive to frost. The Organ Pipe Cactus monument is intended to protect the cactus. The park is about 25 miles square, and right on the Mexican border. The Visitors Centre is named after Kris Eggle, a ranger killed by drug smugglers. There is a big, busy campground, and we were lucky enough to get a site on the edge looking towards the Ajo Mountains. Our site had its own big saguaro and also an organ pipe cactus. These are almost as tall as saguaros, but grow in bunches, more like a gigantic hand of bananas than a set of organ pipes.
It was 80 degrees when we arrived and we had a warm walk across the desert to the visitors centre. It had just closed but we 
had a good walk, seeing some amazing cactus and some beautiful birds. There was a glossy black bird with a red eye. This is called a phainopepla. Where do they get these names?
There were also more of the birds we had seen in Tucson, thrashers, cactus wren, and quail. We walked back at sunset under a full moon, with the green cactus almost glowing against the magenta velvet of the Ajo Mountains.