Road Trip 2020 - Surviving the Desert Rats of Tucson, Arizona

Roadtrip - San Diego to Tucson, via Peoria, Arizona
January 28 - 31, 2020
Surviving the desert rats of Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Mountain Park glows red with the light of the setting sun.

    We departed San Diego on a sunny morning and felt that we were finally starting our road trip after spending most of January visiting family and friends in California. The next two nights, we would also visit a lifelong friend of Roger’s who lives in Peoria, Arizona, next to Phoenix. They have been friends since their Humboldt University days, and both have retired from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Roger and his friend golfed while I caught up on trip planning and writing. 

Hiking in Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona

     That night, we enjoyed a delicious meal at the Persian Room in Scottsdale. I don’t think I had ever been to a Persian restaurant. First, the server brought us a plate of warm naan with a side of fresh basil leaves and onion slices. We had to ask about how to eat it. She explained how to wrap the basil and onion in the bread  — it’s to prepare your palate, she said. It sounded odd to us but was quite tasty. The naan was so good, I couldn’t stop eating it, with or without the basil and onion. We then shared an appetizer called Chicken Eggplant Borani, a hot dish of sautéed chicken and eggplant in a tomato sauce with fresh lemon juice, seasonings, and topped with fried onions. For my entree, I ordered Fessenjan, a stew of chicken and ground walnuts, simmered in a sweet and sour pomegranate sauce with basmati rice on the side. Roger ordered Gyro, thinking it was a sandwich, but it was just the seasoned beef, broiled and sliced thin, served with basmati rice and a homemade gyro sauce. We shared Baklava for dessert. The restaurant was beautifully decorated, so it made the dining experience feel even more exotic.

The view from the rear window of the van.

     The next morning, we said goodbye to our friend and his sweet German short-hair pointer, Baylee Lu, and made our way to Tucson and Saguaro National Park. Saguaro National Park West does not have a campground, so we reserved two nights at the Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park. I had expected the Tucson area to be flatter, but it was quite hilly with many up and down dips in the road. I was getting a little seasick as if we were on the ferry to Pelican, riding the swells of Cross Sound.

Barrell cactus

     Gilbert Ray is by far one of the most scenic campgrounds I have ever visited. Parts of it are still “campy,” for example, the hand-painted signs in the bathroom and the heavy wooden pegs on the wall, clearly made in the campground’s carpenter shop. The other campground guests were mostly retired people like us who seem to have a great appreciation for natural places.

     The beautiful desert landscape is full of a variety of cacti, shrubs, and trees. Some of the cacti are named after their appearance: teddy bear and staghorn cholla, hedgehog, beavertail, barrel, and fishhook. Of course, the stately saguaro cacti dominate the landscape. The mix of cacti, shrubs, and trees are on display as if arranged by a professional florist.

The sun begins to set in Tucson Mountain Park.

     We arrived just in time for the beautiful sunset, overlooking the city of Tucson. Sunset reminded me of being in Hawaii, everyone stopped for a few moments, turned to the west, and enjoyed a few peaceful moments as the sun dipped below the horizon, turning the sky fiery orange. 

Sunset at Gilbert Ray Campground

     As we settled into camp and prepared dinner (chicken and vegetable stir fry with leftover rice from the Persian restaurant), we noticed several of the vehicles parked nearby had their hoods up, and rope lights were strewn on the ground under the engine area of the trucks.

Beautiful desert scenery surrounds our campsite.

I then remembered a campground review I had read about how to prevent desert rats from eating the electrical and fuel wires of your vehicle. Keep the hood open and light on to keep the desert rats out. I told Roger about it, and he skeptically replied, “It does a good job keeping the giraffes out too.” The next morning, a man walked by and asked, “How come everyone has their hoods open? Can’t everyone be working on their vehicles?” We explained the story of the desert rats. “Hmmm, said the man. I don’t know about that.” 

The hills below the Tucson Mountains create
the perfect habitat for the saguaro cacti.

     The next day, we drove to Saguaro National Park West, which abuts Tucson Mountain Park. We went to the visitor center, where I looked for a rat mascot in honor of The Year of the Rat. Surely, with all these desert rats, there would be a cute little rat in the gift shop. I didn’t find a single rat. 

     We drove the five-mile, unpaved, Bajada Scenic Loop and stopped to hike on the Valley View Overlook Trail (.8 mile) and the Signal Hill Petroglyphs Trail (.3 mile). Also in this area is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Old Tucson Studios theme park. We did not take the time to go to either of these attractions. Several of our friends recommended the desert museum, but we just didn’t have enough time. I recall visiting Old Tucson Studio (or a similar place) many years ago on another visit to Tucson. 

Petroglyphs from the Hohokam period,
450-1450 CE.

     Thank goodness someone had the forethought to set aside these lands for the public to enjoy. As one of the displays described at an overlook, you can clearly see where the border of the park ends, and private ownership begins. If not for these parks, development would continue to encroach the desert and mountains, and we wouldn’t have these them to enjoy and appreciate.

View from a picnic area in Saguaro West Tucson Mountain District

“If much in the world were mystery the limits of that world were not, for it was without measure or bound and there were contained within it creatures more horrible yet and men of other colors and beings which no man has looked upon and yet not alien none of it more than were their own hearts alien in them, whatever wilderness contained there and whatever beasts.” — Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

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