Desert Contrasts

On the way home last week I came upon this scene on highway 93, about halfway between Phoenix and Kingman. I'd never seen saguaros and joshua trees growing together! Blow the pic up for a better view of the cactus. Saguaros are more sensitive to cold temperatures than the joshuas, and the yuccas don't require much summer rainfall, which is essential to the cacti. But here, on the eastern edge of the joshua tree's range and at the northwestern edge of the saguaro's, they both thrive.

Talk about a contrast! You drive for miles through empty, barren desert toward the Colorado River, then descend into the river valley, and like an apparition the towers of Laughlin appear. It's not a mirage...here in the middle of nowhere is a large resort and gambling mecca, right on the water. Forty years ago there was virtually nothing here. On this particular day it was very pleasant in Laughlin, and a bit chilly on the plateaus to the east and west; but in the summer, it's a bloody furnace here...120 degrees is common. Let's see...that's 49 degrees celsius, so the Australian beer drinking equation divides that by four...you need a 12 pack of beer to get thru the day...and a gallon or two of water on the side!