Visit to Boyce Thompson Arboretum

We (Lady and I) drove an hour to get there (60 miles east on hwy 60), walked an hour and a half, then drove an hour plus to get home in rush hour traffic (because I never time things right). Beautiful day, flowers in bloom, birds singing, and one butterfly flitting. Yeah, it was worth it. We followed the Main Trail Loop, deviating to the High Trail for the last half mile (very slightly rugged with inclines & nice views). So many people! Not exactly a wilderness trip.

Perched high on a "lava ledge" is a nice house with a weird name: Picket Post House. According to an article in the Arizona Republic (May 11, 2009), "Picket Post House is named for a mountain south of the mansion which hosted an Army encampment during attempts to quell Apache raids on settlers and miners." Damn. An awful lot of the signage & historical exhibits in beautiful parts of Arizona refers to this history of grinding Apaches into the dust. The best example I've seen is the Chiricauhua National Monument, which is rugged enough that Geronimo and Cochise were able to hold off their eventual conquerors longer than anyone else. A fog of sorrow cloaks this land. Makes me queasy. Anyhow, here's my photo of rich Col. Thompson's former house, from which he could look down upon his collection of desert plants from all over the world and Queen Creek. His arboretum and finally the house ended up in state hands. We can enjoy it, with or without pangs of guilt and regret for all the suffering required to make it available to us.