Ez-Kim-in-Zin Picnic Area, Saguaro National Park

May 21, 2011

On our drive through Saguaro National Park we reached the junction on the Bajada Loop Road and found that we couldn't continue on around it because it was one-way against us. In retrospect, that turned out to be fortunate because it brought us to to the Ez-Kim-in-Zin picnic area where we spent an enjoyable hour.

Brenda is shown above on the walkway to the stone shelter which was built by the CCC in the 1930s. The CCC did a lot of work in the Saguaro National Park area long before it became a National Park. I always react positively to CCC efforts because of Edgar's experience with the CCC in Montana in 1940 before he left for World War II.

A quote we found later in the Visitor Center "The Civilian Conservation Corps was host to nearly 3 million men, and it accomplished more in its nine years than had ever been done before or since. Much of the infrastructure of Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park West date to this popular program."

The walkway on which Brenda is standing shows how this rock shelter was built from and integrated into the natural rock features of the area. It was interesting to reflect on the experience of the young CCC guys who labored here to build it. At left is another palo verde or "green stick" tree. Note that the moon was still hanging with us over the roof of the shelter.

The view of the hillside of saguaros was exhilarating on this crystal clear morning. It was about 8:30am and we had the place completely to ourselves.

This is a view of the picnic area from the little rock shelter, showing our little red rental car. We had a snack there and then just relaxed and explored the area a bit.

This is a view of the valley to the southeast and the hills beyond.

This shows a bit about the scale of these saguaro cacti, and these weren't really big ones.

We were pleased to find a number of yellow cactus flowers. This was like some we had seen near Carlsbad Caverns when we visited Edgar.

We also found a lot of this yellow-flowering bush, which gave a pleasant yellow tint to some of the cactus areas.

I set the camera on a rock and tried to take a picture of Brenda and I, but the timer was short and it took several tries. Below is one of the near-misses.

The orange flower above left was on a rope-looking collection of cactus. Above right is a cluster of buds on the side of a saguaro cactus.

My eyes kept going back to the hillsides of saguaros against the blue sky. They were exhilarating!

This is a cross-country view southward toward the road we had come in on. We now headed out of the picnic area after a very enjoyable hour.