Tonto National Forest

We visited the Tonto National Forest as we had not managed it in all our previous visits to Phoenix. It’s hard to think of it as a forest as all you can see are saguaro, cholla, ocotillo and Palo Verde, but if a forest is more about density than it is about trees, this qualifies.

We learned that the Palo Verde are the mommies of the Saguaro. When a Saguaro seed sprouts under a Palo Verde, the shade provided by the Palo Verde makes the Saguaro thrive. Most seeds that without the protection just don’t survive. After a hundred years or so, the Saguaro grows to be taller than its mommy.

Sadly, the mature Saguaro generates a tap root that sucks up all the water that is anywhere near it. As a result, the Palo Verde that essentially mothered it to adulthood eventually dies as it is starved of any water at all.

We visited Canyon Lake created by the Roosevelt Dam. Apparently, there are many more lakes similar to this in the area created by dams that were designed to store water for the residents of the Phoenix valley.

Talk to you soon!