Eye Scene: Photographer, Ryuichi Oshimoto Travels with Sigma Camera & Lenses

White Flowers Begin to Bloom in May at Saguaro National Park

Mid May, from Phoenix, Arizona, on my way toward southeast on Interstate Highway 10 (aka I-10), the sun peeks its head through the gray clouds. Under the cloudy skies mixed with drizzle, speeding from Los Angeles, in order to witness the white Saguaro blossoms blooming every year around April to June, I was headed to Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona. After driving about 100 miles from Phoenix, a sign for Saguaro National Park is seen and I follow the sign to get onto Highway 10.

The wind was especially strong this day and while looking at the tractors creating dust on the field, I drive west on Avra Valley Road and see a small airport on my right hand side. From there, the sign for Saguaro National Park influenced me to turn left onto North Sandario Road and straight into the park. The road leading to the visitor center was under construction, so I was forced to wait 20 minutes in the same spot. Although there were a lot of cloud cover and little direct sunlight hitting the land, it was still over 90 degrees. The face of the young man holding up the stop sign was red from the hot weather. Being bored from just sitting in the car, I stepped out of my car and pointed the camera toward the white saguaro blossoms near by. I saw some of the saguaro blossoms while driving along from California to Arizona and have heard rumors that it may be too early to see them, so I was very ecstatic to see them at a close range.

Near the southeast part of California and southwest part of Arizona, the Saguaro cactus can be found in Sonora, Mexico. Their growth rate is very slow and for the first eight years, they only grow up to 1 to 1.5 inches and depending on the environment, it takes 50 to 70 years to grow human arm like branches. To get to its full maturity, it takes about 125 years. The average life expectancy is 150 to 175 years and there are ones that live to 200 years. The bigger ones can weigh up to 6 tons and can be as high as 50 feet. At 35 years into its life span, white flowers begin to blossom and continue to bloom for the rest of its life.

Saguaro National Park with its densely populated Saguaro cactus, was recognized as a national monument in 1933 and became a national park in 1994. The park divides the city of Tucson into western and eastern districts. On this day, I visited western region, Tucson Mountain District, where it was closest when coming from Phoenix. A park ranger at the visitor informed me that this side was more densely populated with the cacti. I arrived at the Red Hills Visitor Center at 2:00pm. My plan was to explore the western part of the park until sundown, but after consulting with the park ranger, he suggested I drive on Bajada Loop Drive for 6miles.

The suggested loop started from Hohokam Road where the Saguaro cactus was densely populated. I was driving on a dirt road in a vast landscape that best represented the old American west. There were several well-maintained trails on the side of the road and I decided to take a short walk on the ‘Wild Dog’ trail. I’ve read numerous times about the hiking during the summer at Saguaro National Park were not recommended. Although there were many cacti grew closely together, it hardly created any shade. Even on this cloudy May sky, once I started walking, the sweat started to trickle down and I immediately poured water down my throat. I felt hiking during the summer was impossible.

Moving forward at a leisurely pace on the dirt road, at the end of Golden Gate Road, turn left and onto Signal Hill Picnic Area. There were well equipped with barbeque facilities and the picnic areas were kept in good condition.

From there, I walk up the short Signal Hill Petro glyphs Trail that zigzagged gradually and I stand on an area where the whole landscape of Saguaro cacti can be seen. Petro glyphs drawn approximately between 500 to 1300 years ago, the Hohokam tribe left their mark on existence on this hill.

Imagining the lifestyle of the Hohokam tribe, after looking at the many petro glyphs on the rock surfaces, I went back to Golden Gate Road and exited the loop. As I advance, I see the Ez-Kim-In-Zin picnic area surrounded by Saguaro cacti on the left.

The way the road was set up, it was only natural to stop by this picnic area where it blended with its surroundings. A small cottage, furnished with chairs and tables, sat on top of a small hill and the large open window let in a breeze. For a while, I stayed stationary here and took a break. The dirt road beyond the picnic area was bumpy and the number of Saguaro cacti decreased, so I went back to the loop again. By the time I got to Signal Hill Picnic Area, the clouds parted and the sunlight peeked through them. I was able to witness the Saguaro with the unexpected sunset in the backdrop.

Later, backtracking from where I entered the park, I drove onto Highway 10 and headed toward Tucson. On the way there, I saw many large motel signs from the highway, so looking for a place to stay were not going to be a problem. It was only the month of May, but turning on the A/C was a must at night.

The next morning, I headed to, located 30 miles west of Tucson Mountain district and east of Saguaro National Park. I left at 5:30am, but it took longer than expected to get to the park and the strong sunlight, promising good weather ahead, had already illuminated the white saguaro blossoms. From the closed visitor center, I drove 8 miles on the paved Cactus Forest Drive.

The road surrounded by the changing and undulating landscape, there were areas to park your car to look down at the cacti and places to see the blossoming flowers from above. It was a great loop to drive around. There were several cars passing by me while I drove slowly and taking photos. There were the double of number of cyclists enjoying the morning air.

At Saguaro National Park where the temperature isn’t harsh yet even during high noon in May, after I looked at many cacti, I see more on the way when heading west. Even when I stopped by to fill up the car at the border of California in Quartzsite, I saw the saguaro cactus had white flowers blooming. This was the last place I saw these flowers blooming, but after coming back to Los Angeles from Arizona, I felt that I could see these saguaro blossoms anywhere.

All artwork on this page was processed from RAW data (X3F) with Sigma PhotoPro software.  After processing, some selected images were imported into retouching software to remove dust.  This photo essay is currently running on Sigma Japan's site and it is published here two months later.