Boundary Art in the Middle of a Desert Metropolis

More photos from the post near the DBG and Crosscut Canal

Papago Park is a strange and wonderful place, an island of desert landscape in the middle of a vast metropolis covered in cement and filled with cars and people. And yet, here's this park, which, along with a few other similar gems like the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and South Mountain, to name a couple, offers a brief but intense respite. This monument has always seemed to me more like a marker for the boundary between sprawl and almost-wild, rather than a border between two cities. During the daytime, it's calm, quiet, with hikers, families picnicking, the occasional cyclist w/ camera. But I have stayed a while after dark in this park on many nights, near the less-traveled parts, and I'll tell you: the coyotes come out here after dark, to chase the jackrabbits, and their yipping (tally ho old boy, the hunt is on) is chilling, but also very welcome. You're crossing a boundary here. It's not a true boundary, but more like a model boundary, a reminder of what is real, and out there. Love it. Get up. Go ride.