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Some photos from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, in a remote corner of southern Arizona. The landscape isn't as dramatic as some other parts of the state, but the monument -- along with the adjacent and even more remote Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge -- protects a big chunk of intact Sonoran Desert ecosystem, including the monument's namesake cactus. So this may be more of a place for close up and macro photos than for broad desert vistas. It's kind of a moot point since I had neither the inclination or the gear to do that back then. Which is a shame, in retrospect; the resulting photos might have given a clearer sense of why I felt this was a high point of the trip.
Looking over these photos, it also occurs to me that I don't have any really good examples of the aforementioned organ pipe cactus. I'm not totally surprised by that; as a native of the Pacific Northwest, all cactuses pretty much look alike to me. I can tell conifers apart, and I can tell you all sorts of boring facts about them if called upon (which is rare). Cactuses, not so much. Same goes for palm trees, come to think of it.
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