Hot, hot, hot..
As I’m writing this, in Las Vegas, NV, it’s in the triple digits. Anywhere below about 5500-6500 feet in the southwest is a scorcher.
Over the last few days, our location has been mostly Arizona. Tonto National Forest near Flagstaff, as well as one of my favorite National Parks, Grand Canyon. This one is an attraction for a reason. I’ve been there 4 or 5 times in my lifetime, and each visit is as impressive as the one before. The canyon is obviously big, but until you see it, you don’t realize how absolutely MASSIVE it is. We started at the south rim of the canyon Monday morning, and didn’t reach our camp site on the north rim until later that evening. It’s amazingly deep, too. I’ve always said, if I was a bird, this is where I’d want to live. Dive through the air all day and glide on the warm updrafts back to the start. Sit and soar, whatever.
South Rim. Grand Canyon, AZ.
Yesterday, we drove what had to be the longest continuously off-pavement route made in our lifetimes. A little over 120 miles. It wasn’t polite gravel either. Potholes and whoops (if you know anything about dirt bike racing, you’ll understand) littered a majority of the way. We were attempting to see a certain point of the Grand Canyon. It didn’t end up happening; we got there just before sundown and this area was day-use only. You win some, you lose some. While it was a disappointment that we didn’t make it in time, however, I managed to find some great photographic subject matter along the way. Not to mention one of the southwest’s signature sunrises.
Mt. Trumbull, AZ.
Arizona sunset.
I think one of my favorite aspects of the southwest, besides the sights, is that the desert portions are littered with sage. On a any night, above 6500 feet, a cool breeze will carry one of the most wonderfully fragrant naturally occurring aromas around. It’s something to experience, and one of the reasons I’ll always come back to the southwest.