I had the opportunity to ride along with Gene from Roadrunner Desert Adventures as he took a few people out on Wednesday morning. Our tour departed from the Hotel Valley Ho at 7:00 AM. We headed North out to the Table Mesa Road off the 17, just past Anthem.

In past lives, I’ve been an avid off road enthusiast. I’ve done some serious trails in northern California in some very serious rigs. So, I wasn’t sure how much of this trip would be rock crawling and how much would be maintained dirt roads.

Almost immediately, we got a little taste of what the Hummer we were in was capable of. This video doesn’t do the steepness of the downhill justice, but believe me when I tell you it was well over 50 degrees.

That was the only part of the trip that felt like true 4 wheeling. The rest of the ride was much more tame, but I still wouldn’t take a stock SUV out there.

Anyone that has ever been on a guided tour knows that it’s the driver/guide that really makes it special. This was no different. Gene stopped many times to explain the nuances of Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus, Saguaro Cactus and other Sonoran plants. He also sprinkled in tips on survival, like eating 10 to 20 arms of Teddy Bear Cholla will allow you to last three to four weeks in the desert.

During our trip, we stopped at three different locations. An old abandoned Turquoise mine, a 1,000 year old Indian Fort and the ghost town of Gillette, Arizona. At each stop, Gene provided great stories and commentary on the historical significance of what we were looking at.

The trip lasted until about 11:30 AM, four and a half hours. Make sure you wear good hiking clothes. You will dusty and sweating so make sure you leave plenty of time in your itinerary to clean up before lunch.

I highly recommend the Jeep/Hummer tours. It’s a great way to see the desert up close. Make sure your camera is complete charged and has lots of free disk space. The picture opportunity is amazing. You can see my photos of the Sonoran desert here.

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I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! With the holiday season upon us, I’m sure everyone has a lot to do, so let’s dive right in to this month’s question from Linda K. of Kayenta, Ariz.:

On a recent trip to Scottsdale I visited the Desert Botanical Garden and saw what looked like a saguaro cactus with a deformed top. What happened to it?

The cactus you spotted was probably a crested saguaro. Relatively rare, crested saguaros are easily identified by their gnarled, fan-shaped tops, as shown in the picture above. Researchers disagree on exactly what causes the plant’s growing tip (the apex) to go awry. Theories include everything from lighting strikes to genetic abnormalities. The most widely accepted explanation is that cresting is caused by damage to the apex, either mechanically (man made or nature-caused) or by freezing. The crest doesn’t harm the saguaro, which can continue to produce flowers and fruit. It is estimated that this condition affects approximately one out of every 200,000 saguaros.

Speaking of the Desert Botanical Garden, if you’re planning a trip to Scottsdale between now and December 23 and can fit an evening visit to the Garden into your itinerary, you’re in for a treat. Each year during Las Noches de las Luminarias, the Garden’s pathways are illuminated after dark by thousands of glowing candles. As you stroll the candle-lit trails, musicians and performing artists, ranging from jazz duos and Native American flutists to handbell choirs and cowboy storytellers, will keep you entertained. It’s a beautiful and unique way to explore the flora of the Sonoran Desert!

Tickets for Las Noches de las Luminarias and the optional dinner buffet are available atwww.dbg.org, at the Garden’s box office or by calling 480-481-8188. Some nights are already sold out, so if you’d like to experience this unique event, be sure to get your tickets soon!

Happy holidays!

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