The drive from Las Vegas to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument took longer than I had anticipated. By the time we finished checking into our motel in Ajo there was some question as to whether we would be able to make it to the monument before dark. We decided to give it a shot anyway. The most beautiful sunset I’ve ever witnessed took place along the road into Organ Pipe some nine years earlier. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see another one.

The sky was just starting to turn bright pink as we entered the monument. I knew this light wouldn’t last so I pulled over to the side of the road and the three of us wandered off into the desert to take in the sunset from here.

The sky was a beautiful pink when we finally released The Boy from his car seat. He would have been just as pleased if the sky was gray and overcast; he was just happy to be free after another long day of driving. Fortunately for his parents, Lewis has always been a good traveler.

One of the first things that always strikes me about Organ Pipe is the ease at which one can move around on the desert floor. Everything is nicely spread out and open; no bushwhacking required.

It was no more than 15 minutes after we stopped that the sun disappeared completely and the sky turned from pink to indigo. We paused for a couple snaps in a small patch of Ocotillos before returning to our car.

The Ocotillo is one of my favorite desert plants. In another month they will all be tipped with brilliant red flowers. You can already see the flowers starting to form.

One aspect of this visit was already distinctly different from those prior: the Border Patrol was everywhere. They had mobile surveillance towers, helicopters, and check points on the road out of the park. It was surreal – like we had been transported into a war zone. In a sense, it was a war zone.

In the nine years since I had last visited OPCNM, it had become a corridor through which people and drugs were smuggled into the U.S. on a nightly basis. In 2002, a park ranger was killed while pursuing members of a drug cartel hit squad who fled into the United States after committing a string of murders in Mexico. The result of this incident was a dramatically increased presence by the Border Patrol and the closure of large sections of the monument to visitors. At the time of our visit, the Park Service was in the process of constructing a fence along the border to stop off-road vehicle crossings. (This fence was completed in 2006.) Large sections of the monument still remain closed as of this writing.

After making it through the check point, we returned to Ajo and stopped at the local Pizza Hut for dinner. A couple of Border Patrol agents were up at the front counter sharing stories about their day’s adventures while they waited for their pizza. What a job.

We decided to wait outside for our pizza so Lewis could play on this little jet.

Lewis was having fun just sitting on his airplane until another family brought their child by for a ride. Once The Boy saw what happened when a quarter was inserted into the red box, merely sitting on the jet was no longer acceptable. He didn’t do much talking at this point, but his gesture was clear enough: Mommie and Daddy had better come up with some quarters!

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is, for me, desert perfection. This image captures the classic desert feel of the monument: Hundreds of giant saguaro cacti towering above the desert floor, surrounded by rugged mountains and warmed by a rising sun.

By 10:00am it was no longer warm; it was hot. In a scene I will never forget, Lewis, who had been demanding his long term emancipation from the car, wasted no time climbing out to freedom. It took him about three steps to realize just how hot it had become, at which point he turned around and attempted to climb back into the car.

The cacti in this image are the Organ Pipe variety from which the monument derives its name. This is the only place in the United States where they can be found, however they can be found farther south in Mexico.

Actually, I've always been this funny...

Normally at this time of year one could expect daytime highs to be in the low to mid 80’s – perfect for Oregonians like us trying to escape the winter blahs. Today was expected to be in the 90’s – too hot for any of us. The Boy was particularly unprepared for the heat. This day was on its way to becoming the warmest one he had ever experienced.

If there was one disappointment about this visit to Organ Pipe, it was the lack of wildflowers. It had been a dry winter here and, as a result, there just weren’t many flowers blooming. When winter conditions are just right, the desert explodes in a riot of spring color…or so I’ve been told.

A notable exception was a large planter in front of the visitor center. Being irrigated, it was full of flowers. This tiny desert oasis attracted a steady stream of butterflies, hummingbirds, and, best of all, hummingbird hawk moths.

Hummingbird hawk moths are often mistaken for hummingbirds although they are smaller than the hummingbirds I have always seen. Like other moths, most hawk moths are nocturnal; I’ve occasionally spotted them outside our home in Oregon at night, drinking nectar from our summer garden. I was surprised to discover them out and about at noon here in the desert.

It’s hard to appreciate how fast these amazing little creatures move until you see them for yourself. This image was taken at 1/320 of a second. As you can see, the hawk moth is moving so fast that its wings are a complete blur. I suspect that a shutter speed three times as fast would not be enough to completely freeze the action.

This image of a hummingbird is nothing special but it does provide a basis for size comparison between the bird and its namesake in the insect world.

The highlight of any trip to Organ Pipe is the Ajo Mountain Drive. This 21 mile gravel loop takes visitors into the heart of the desert and then up into the Ajo Mountains. Several trails can be accessed from the road although it can be just as fun to pull over and wander around – as we did here. Lewis was actually more captivated by these giant Saguaros than anything he’d seen in Vegas.

As you might expect, Organ Pipe is prime reptile habitat so we kept careful track of A Certain Boy. I had previously contacted monument headquarters to ask if I would be wise to wear “snake gaiters” as I wandered around in the desert. The ranger chuckled at the idea. I was told that the snakes in this area are pretty laid back; you’d really have to step on one to get bit.

I’ve never come across a snake here, although it had been a concern on a couple occasions when I had to climb down from the top of large rock formations after sunset. The air temperature in the desert drops dramatically once the sun goes down. Snakes often like to warm themselves on the rocks, which continue to radiate heat after dark. If I was going to step on a snake, this is when I would expect it to happen.

Truth be told, what I really hoped to see was a Gila monster, the only venomous lizard native to the U.S. I’d always wanted to see one in its natural habitat and this is it. Several of them were spotted earlier in the day in a creek bed near the visitor center. They were gone by the time we went out to look.

This is the view from the top of a rock formation like the ones seen in the distance. We are looking south-southwest into Mexico. It had already begun to cool off a little bit so, between the beautiful view and the moderating temperatures, things were just about perfect. Where else would I rather be? Nowhere but here.

I timed this drive to coincide with the setting of the sun. I’d always wanted to enjoy a sunset from along the Ajo Mountain Drive. While this one didn’t compare to some of the others I’d witnessed in the monument, the silhouetted forms of the saguaro, ocotillo, and cholla against the burnt orange western sky were nonetheless quite beautiful.

I was working to capture the last vestiges of color in the sky when, to my surprise, a blue RAV4 with Arizona plates pulled up behind our Subaru and stopped. An older lady got out of the vehicle and walked over to express her concern for us. The woman, down from Phoenix, explained that armed illegals could very easily sneak up on us and carjack our vehicle, leaving us stranded in the desert. She urged us to head back to the highway right away.

However unlikely this scenario, it seemed the better part of wisdom not to take any chances given the checkpoints and security we had observed a night earlier. Lewis was actually sleeping in the back of our car. While we could always have another child, we kinda liked this one. I took one final shot and then we packed everything up and headed for the highway.

The drive back to our motel in Ajo was even more surreal than the night before. Shortly after returning to the main highway we noticed a Border Patrol cruiser passing each of the vehicles to our rear. As it caught up to us, it pulled in behind us and followed. A helicopter flew parallel to the highway shining a giant searchlight into each of the northbound vehicles.

It wasn’t until the vehicle directly in front of us flipped on its lights that I realized it was an unmarked Border Patrol vehicle. As it flipped on its lights, the patrol car behind us followed suit. It then passed us and stopped in the middle of the highway, halting all northbound traffic. The unmarked patrol car proceeded to force the car in front of it off the road, at which point the occupants of both vehicles jumped out and a struggle ensued in which the Border Patrol officers ultimately subdued two very large Hispanic males. As all of this was taking place, Darla and I debated the best course of action should someone start shooting. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. The only one shooting was me…with my camera. As you can see, I’m probably not in the running for a Pulitzer with this shot.

The following morning we checked out of our motel room and headed off to the next stop on our itinerary: Joshua Tree National Park.