Real Clear Truth

I went hiking at Gates Pass in the Tucson Mountains west of downtown Tucson on the weekend. The weather was beautiful, although not too many flowers were out yet at this location.

I climbed up the steep mountain slopes where there are no trails, as I did when I first arrived in Tucson back in 1978.

This looks worse than it is. However, I did fall on the way down (ouch)! I’m not sure what happened, but I took a step where it seemed easy, and the next thing I knew I was falling forward — and down the hill. I instinctively did a somersault which got me on my rear end, stopping my fall, but in the process I ran right into a “jumping” Cholla cactus.  That’s the cactus in the first photo above. If you’ve never ran into jumping Cholla cactus, believe me, you don’t want the experience. They break off and cling to you with many needles. Worse, there is no way to touch the cactus to remove it. Any attempt just causes you to get stuck more!

I ended up using rocks to scrap the cactus off my hands, wrist, neck, and head. I removed the needles I could but the ones in my head had to wait until I got home and my 16-year old daughter volunteered to help get them out. The moral is to be even more careful than I typically am!