November 23, 2020 - Saguaro National Park East
Having already checked out Sagauro National Park West a few days ago, it was now time to check out Sagauro National Park East.
First we drove the loop road. This is looking north at the Santa Catalina mountains.
We decided to hike the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail. We knew we couldn't hike the entire thing but figured we would hike to the top of the ridge, then follow the ridge until we'd had enough and then come back.
Then we started going up.
And up.
Now you can really see Davis-Monthan AFB which is best known as the aircraft boneyard for all excess military and U.S. government aircraft and aerospace vehicles.
Looking southeast, somewhere out there is Vail, which is where Maggie lives.
It is easy to see where the Park ends and civilization begins.
Now we can actually make out some of the bigger planes in the Boneyard.
The base was named in honor of World War I pilots Lieutenants Samuel H. Davis (1896–1921) and Oscar Monthan (1885–1924), both Tucson natives. Davis, who attended the University of Arizona prior to enlisting in the Army in 1917, died in a Florida aircraft accident in 1921. Monthan enlisted in the Army as a private in 1917, was commissioned as a ground officer in 1918, and later became a pilot; he was killed in the crash of a Martin B2 bomber in Hawaii in 1924.
