After a couple of days staying 30 miles north of the park in Ajo we move to the campground in the National Monument where we are booked for three nights. The campground is one of the nicest campgrounds we’ve stayed at anywhere in the US or Canada. The sites are private with a good distance between them.
For the next few days we enjoy morning hikes but need to lay low in the afternoon due to the blazing sun and the warm temperatures. It’s not an overwhelming heat it is more that we are not acclimated to it yet. We fill in the low hiking time with a couple of long one way loop drives within the park. One is 21 miles and plenty of views while the other is twice as long. The negative part of the longer loop is a section of it parallels the US/Mexican Border and the border wall is under construction there. They bulldozed a wide straight line in this beautiful desert wiping out the natural vegetation. Huge number of Saguaro and Organ Pipe Cactus. Many well over a hundred years old.
For two sunsets while at the campground Wells attempts sunset photos. First try is a bust. There were a couple of high cirrus clouds but not enough to bring out any color. One approach to capturing colorful sunsets includes having high clouds in the western view along with clear skies further to the west. This allows the sun once set to light up the high clouds from underneath thus presenting dazzling colors. So the first thing needed is the right cloud configuration. The second task is to be ready for the display to show. Many watch the sun set and pack up and leaving. It’s not until well after 
the sun is below the horizon that things can really happen.
Sunset on the second day had clouds but it seemed as if there was no sun to light up the cloud bottoms. Wells waited and waited and as he was about to give up the sun lite up the clouds for a brief minute or two. It is a fleeting opportunity but still captured.
We complete our last hike in the park and on returning on the gravel road we come across a Rattlesnake. He is not happy to see us but we managed to snap a few photos. On Wells’ Facebook page he posted one photo of the snake with it’s forked tongue out. Wells captured maybe another 25 without the tongue. We share it here.
Seeing North America 