2006-03-23 Saguaro National Park, AZ 03

We moved on to east district of Saguaro National Park, outside of Tucson, AZ. We did the scenic drive and a short hike into the Saguaros. These are enormous cactus, easily 20 feet tall. We finished our hike right around sunset and went out to find some BLM or National Forest to camp on for the night. We found an area northeast of Tucson and drove up a mountain dirt road. We found a spot and stopped the truck, only to hear loud music from over the hill. We got back in and found a party going on right around the corner from us. We drove further up the road and found lots' of people camping up here. We finally found an empty site at the top of the mountain and made camp. We looked around and saw lots of shell casings and things that people might use as targets. This is a backwoods shooting range! Its a shame that this beautiful area overlooking the city lights of Tucson, covered in saguaro cactus, is being trashed by the locals.