The Unique and Unusual

This is a view of the switchback trail we climbed yesterday to get to the Upper Ruins at Tonto National Monument near Roosevelt AZ. It was a 600' up and down climb. Seemed like a lot more!

Above this cliff dwelling wall, there is a nook higher up on the rock wall, where a couple of owls live. This is what the owls leave behind. Not a pleasant thought, but it does add color and interest to the cliff dwelling.

Also above the cliff dwelling was a hive of African killer bees. The longer we hung around the dwelling and their territory, the busier they became. This hive was just knocked down a couple of weeks ago (you can see the honey color residue to the right of the combs) and has grown this much since. I was happy to leave it and the bees behind.

If one looks closely, you can see a hand print left in the mud plaster on the wall of this room in the cliff dwelling. Our tour guide shared how a new coating was applied and everyone in the family worked to "paint" the wall. This dwelling was last occupied around 1400 AD.

This is desert mistletoe. It needs a host plant to grow and in turn eventually kills the host. You often see a tangled mass of usually brown vines, in the shape of a large ball, growing in a tree. That is a sure sign the tree will die in a few years.

A dead saguaro next to a live, healthy saguaro. We learned many saguaros also need a host plant to protect it as it gets its start in life. And often as the saguaro grows in girth and height, it will destroy the host. Older saguaros often have a "tree bark" look on the outer layer, especially the area nearest the ground. I always find the interior of a dead saguaro interesting with its 17 or so wooden ribs, and not a single trunk like a tree.