Chewed up

This saguaro cactus was so chewed up from the base it's amazing it can stand. But they get very woody. In the extra you can see how big and healthy it is up top. Once they reach 4 feet tall their roots have been growing for 50 years. Their roots only go down 3 to 5 inches but they spread out 4 to 5 feet. They have little hairs on them that gather rain water. In a good rain storm they can gather up to 200 gallons of water. It was good to hike this morning.