The desert glowed in the soft early morning light of the day. Each spine of the Cholla cactus was highlighted with a chartreuse glow that bordered on neon. Not to be out done by the beauty of the Cholla, the Creosote Bush seeds were little kernels of fuzzy white among the yellow green leaves popping up here and there. Long eared jack rabbits lounged in the lengthy shadows of the Saguaro cactus while flocks of Gambel Quail scratched at the dusty ground around the base of Ocotillos while hummingbirds hovered at the red flowers above.  Lizards darted across the path blending in so well with the rocks and gravel that only their movement announced their presence. As we  shuffled down the dusty trail, my eyes took all this in.  The air dry and quickly going from warm to hot filled our lungs. Our destination loomed ahead of us as we took step after step, searching for the spur trail up to the praying hands but not beyond or so we thought.  We were told of the large rocky cairn at the top of the spur and we headed that direction. Closer and closer we came to the large group of rocks sticking up like hands pressed upwards together and realized that the trail went further and further still.  At the base we stopped in the shade to have lunch, marveling at the fact we were the only ones in this secluded spot and felt lucky. By this time though still early in the day, the desert had lost it’s glow and now as I looked into the sky, it deepened to an endless blue. I tried to imagine it with hundreds of stars and inky black but the blue was overwhelming and contrasted with the orangish red of the rocks. We pasted the hands, wondering what was around the bend, the next little rise but this trail wasn’t on the map. Would it loop around? Did we have enough water, both unanswered and unable to determine we turned back down the spur trail to hook up to the main loop.  Keeping to the west side of the stubby hills we made our way back pausing near tan ocotillo and saguaro cactus to photograph the colors of the flowers when this beautiful little hummingbird decided to make it’s appearance in the frame of the camera. Not even noon and we had explored trail in this amazing area.