A long, chubby Gila monster lumbers in no particular hurry across the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail and vanishes in a jumble of rocks.
Long tendrils of octotillo, tipped with bright red blooms, waft over the trail like pennants in a gentle breeze.
It's all quite soothing.
Unless you plan to tackle the entire trail — in which case you'd better get cracking.
Generally following the spine of its namesake ridge in Saguaro National Park East, the trail ascends for nine miles and nearly 4,000 vertical feet to rugged 7,049-foot Tanque Verde Peak.
And if the 18-mile round-trip trek to the peak isn't enough exercise, you could continue an additional 2.5 miles from the peak to Cow Head Saddle — adding five miles to the round-trip outing.
But here's the thing: You don't have to go all the way to the saddle or the peak to enjoy the trail.
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A short ramble of a mile or two on lower reaches of the route leads past classic desert vegetation and several drainages on the way to the main ridge.
A longer day hike — but still less challenging than going for the peak — is a 6.9-mile one-way trek to Juniper Basin at 6,000 feet.
Get to the trailhead
Take East 22nd Street to Old Spanish Trail and follow Old Spanish Trail southeast to the signed entrance to Saguaro National Park.
Get a park map at the entrance station, where you'll pay a $10 per vehicle fee, and follow the Cactus Forest Drive to the Javelina Picnic Area. The trail begins at a parking lot near the picnic area.
