I took a Desert Jeep tour and it was great!

For me, horseback is the best way to see the White Stallion Ranch. The only way. I love the desert, I do. An open-air jeep tour with guide Malcolm Mickel offers a different perspective you don't get on a typical horseback ride. It's very vibrant, very alive. It's got a really good energy to it. There's a story behind every plant we drive by. Just about. All aboard. For the jeep tour. Malcolm's jeep tour is both scenic and super informative. That's what they call a hedgehog cactus. The chance to get up close with the desert. It's incredible plant life. Why do they call it a prickly pear? But doesn't it look like an upside down pear? Along the tour off in the distance, Malcolm points out Picacho Peak, the site of the Battle of Picacho Pass, the only Civil War battle fought in Arizona. This all fell under Confederate dominion. So in 1862, California sent some Union troops to battle with Confederate troops at Picacho Peak. Now, what is one great symbol of the Sonoran Desert? But the star of the show today is the endlessly fascinating saguaro cactus. You can see how it's pleated there. So that allows the plant to expand and contract with water. As Malcolm tells us, saguaros can weigh four tons. They can store as much as two tons of water. Live 200 years and you can read their history. It's like somebody tried to strangle it a couple of times. Well, that comes from frost. It takes 50 years before a saguaro grows his first arm. You'll notice they have arms going up towards the sky or branches. Anyone know what the reason for that is? Sun. And you might see some with the branches going down towards the ground. That's caused from frost. And there's the rare crested saguaro. And it is a genetic flaw. And there aren't very many of them. There's only about one in 200,000. Even dead saguaros have a most interesting story. Look how light it is. I'll take two fingers here and I can lift the entire thing. Look how light it is. Almost like balsa wood. But look how sturdy it is. Super strong. So a lot of the early homes in Tucson and the Phoenix area were built from the saguaro wood. The giant cactus also produces Arizona state flower, the saguaro blossom, which you can eat. Of course, that fruit is harvested. And drink. What happens when fruit ferments? Turns to alcohol. You think the Indians knew about that? I would imagine they did. In fact, the harsh looking desert, green today after a recent rain, has all kinds of things to eat. Like the fruit of the barrel cactus. And now some people say it kind of tastes a little bit like a bell pepper. The buds of the jumbling cholla cactus can make a delicious casserole. So the Indians had lots of stuff to eat down out here, huh? Oh yeah. Over the thousands of years, they knew how to adapt. And the abundant prickly pear makes a good meal as well. Now it's a little gooey to the taste. And it kind of has the consistency of string beans. We see it there, right? Be careful when you pick it. Rattlesnakes hang out down here. They know they have protection from some of the predators. The bark and flowers of the ocotillo can be brewed as an herbal tea. Around the merry month of May, they do produce a flower. It looks like a flame from a distance. Kind of an orangish red. You can actually brew that flower. And how many of you have had chamomile tea before? Okay, that's what it tastes like. Now you can only put in a little in the pot. If you put in too much, it tastes like dish soap. Every plant has a story. See the skeleton of the cholla, right? Look how porous it is. Okay, now you feel how light it is. Almost like balsam. It may be a desert, but it's teeming with all kinds of life. The Jeep tour is a great way to get up close and personal with all of it. A memorable day at the White Stallion Ranch.