Category: Canyon & Cactus Road Trip

arizona {points south}

wanderessence1025 February 9, 2022

In November of 2020, as part of our Canyon & Cactus Road Trip, I: crossed into Arizona and fell in love with chartreuse leaves in Oak Canyon on the way to Sedona; drove south to Montezuma Castle National Monument and Montezuma Well; hiked the Eagles Nest Loop at Red Rock State Park in Sedona; sat quietly under Buddhist prayer flags at Amitabha Stupa & Peace Park in Sedona, turned the prayer wheel, and walked 3x clockwise offering lots of prayers; got a wonderful 90-minute hot stone massage at Namti Spa; spent Election Day nearly getting struck by lightning at Tuzigoot National Monument; spent a day in Phoenix at the Phoenix Art Museum and the Heard Museum; visited Casa Grande Ruins National Monument; met a huge variety of cacti at Desert Botanical Garden and wandered through Old Town Scottsdale; hiked through Saguaro National Park (West and East); avoided rattlesnakes on a climb to see petrogylphs by the Hohokam people at the Signal Hill Trail; wandered through the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, finding javelinas and more cacti: hedgehog, barrel, staghorn, teddy bear cholla, catclaw, dwarf organ pipe cactus, Woolly Jacket prickly pear, Cowboy Whiskers Prickly Pear and ocotillo. Followed a van in Tucson with a bumper sticker: “BIDEN 2020: He won’t inject you with bleach.” Went to Tumacácori National Historical Park and Tubac, where I bought some colorful cactus and coyote yard ornaments; lit a candle for our country and my children at Mission San Xavier del Bac; gobbled down Indian fry bread at Cafe Santa Rosa in Tucson; wandered through the charming but scruffy town of Bisbee, a former copper mining town; missed the shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone; took a fabulous (but freezing) hike at the sky island of Chiricahua National Monument; got a flat tire driving on a dirt road to Fort Bowie, but didn’t even visit there after all that.

Here are my top ten favorites in southern Arizona, with a couple of odds & ends thrown in:

11) Odds & Ends: Old Town Scottsdale, ASU Gammage Auditorium in Phoenix, Casa Ruins National Monument, Tumacácori National Historical Park, & Bisbee
10) Pipe Spring National Monument (northern Arizona)
9) Montezuma Castle & Montezuma Well
8) Tombstone
7) Tuzigoot National Monument
6) Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson
5) Phoenix: (a) Phoenix Art Museum, (b) Heard Museum, (c) Desert Botanical Garden
4) City of Tucson & Saguaro National Park West & East
3) Tubac & Mission San Xavier del Bac
2) Sedona, Red Rock State Park, & Amitabha Stupa
1) Chiricahua National Monument

Here’s the map of our route in 2020. The red shows our route in 2018. Pipestone National Monument is in the north central part of the state, where we dipped down from Utah for a short visit and then returned to Utah.

Arizona: Brown route = 2020; Red route = 2018

Thank you for watching! 🙂

utah: points southwest

wanderessence1025 January 26, 2022

As part of our “Canyon & Cactus Road Trip” in October-November of 2020, we spent two weeks exploring the National and State Parks in southwest Utah. This “video/slideshow” encapsulates our two week trip through this fabulous state.

In southwest Utah, we: met with our son and his girlfriend in Green River. Hiked the narrow slot canyon, Little Wild Horse Canyon, in the San Rafael Swell. Wandered amidst goblin-shaped rock formations at Goblin Valley State Park after picnicking at a red picnic table. Hiked throughout Capitol Reef National Park and learned about the Mormon community and the orchards there. Stopped for astounding scenic overlooks at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Strolled among towering sandstone chimneys at Kodachrome Basin State Park. Encountered more bulbous columns called hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park on the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop Trail. Celebrated my 65th birthday, officially becoming a senior citizen in Bryce. Climbed ever upward in snow and 4°F temps to Cedar Breaks National Monument, where my fingers nearly froze off in just a few minutes of being outdoors. Hiked the Scout Lookout Trail at Zion National Park, where Ariana was the only one of us to make it to the top of Angel’s Landing. Hiked the Kayenta Trail and the Emerald Pool Trails at Zion, where we had fabulous views of the Virgin River. Decked myself out in neoprene socks, water shoes and waterproof pants to hike and wade up the Narrows at Zion. Observed changes in plant species from wildflowers and willows on the canyon floor to cacti and pinyon pines at higher elevations. Enjoyed a fabulous bacon-wrapped meatloaf Napoleon at Switchback Grille in Springdale, and said our goodbyes to Alex and Ariana as they headed back to Denver the next morning. Squeezed in a couple more hikes in Zion and then drove to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Enjoyed an excellent belated birthday dinner in St. George at the Painted Pony Restaurant. Hiked the Petrified Dunes Trail at Snow Canyon State Park.

Our top 10 sights to see in southwest Utah were (in descending order):

10) Cedar Breaks National Monument & Cedar City
9) Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
8) Dixie National Forest & Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
7) Goblin Valley State Park
6) Snow Canyon State Park
5) Kodachrome Basin State Park
4) Capitol Reef National Park
3) Little Wild Horse Canyon in San Rafael Swell
2) Bryce Canyon National Park
1) Zion National Park & Springdale

We explored southeast Utah in 2018; I’ll make another video about that trip later.

Below is the map showing our route through southwest Utah.

Brown route = 2020, red route = 2018

Our 2020 route through southeast Utah

Thank you for watching! 🙂

anticipation & preparation: the canyon & cactus road trip

wanderessence1025 September 25, 2020

My Canyon & Cactus Road Trip will be a huge undertaking. I hope to drive to Denver, Colorado (three days of 8+ hour drives) and pick up Mike as he flies in. We’ll visit our son in Denver and have he and his girlfriend accompany us to Utah. In Utah, I want to visit Goblin Valley State Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Rainbow Bridge National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Kodachrome Basin State Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Zion National Park and St. George. At some point, Alex and his girlfriend will return to Denver, and Mike will fly home from Las Vegas.

Canyonlands in Utah

Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah

Once everyone departs, I hope to continue my way into Arizona. I will probably have to save the Grand Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument for another trip. I plan to head to Sedona, Turzigoot National Monument, and Red Rock State Park. Then I’ll head south to Agua Fria National Monument and then to the Phoenix area.

In the Phoenix area, I’d like to visit various sites around the city of Phoenix. I’ll keep heading south, to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, and then to Tucson. From Tucson, I’ll visit Ironwood Forest National Monument, Saguaro National Park, Tumacácori National Historical Park, Tombstone, Chiricahua National Monument and Ft. Bowie National Historic Site.

Coal Mine Canyon in Utah

After all of this, I’ll have a very long drive home, four days of 8+ hour drives, hopefully stopping in Deming, New Mexico; Abilene, Texas; Forrest City, Arkansas; Kingsport, Tennessee; and back to Northern Virginia.

A lot must come together for me to go on this trip. As I just had my Stretta procedure on my lower esophageal sphincter on September 17, I must see how my healing goes and I must see my doctor on October 15.

Luckily I managed to vote early in Fairfax County. I had to stand in line for an hour and 40 minutes, but the deed is done!

If all goes well, my hope is to leave on Saturday or Sunday, October 17 or 18. I imagine the trip will be less than a month in duration.

All this year, I’ve been reading books set in New Mexico and Texas, as I hoped I’d be going there. All that reading will prepare me when I eventually go either in 2021 or 2022. I’ve been to Arizona and Utah before and here are some of the books on my reading list.

Arizona
1. Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver ****
2. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
3. The Woman Lit by Fireflies by Jim Harrison *****
4. Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor
5. The Song of the Lark (Great Plains Trilogy #2) by Willa Cather
6. Arizona: Kicks on Route 66. Text by Roger Naylor, Photographs by Larry Lindahl
7. Inland by Téa Obreht (currently reading)
8. Crossers by Philip Caputo
9. The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir by Leslie Marmon Silko
10. Gallatin Canyon by Thomas McGuane
11. Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral (Doc Holliday #2) by Mary Doria Russell
12. These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy E. Turner (Arizona Territory)

Utah
1. The Never Open Desert Diner by James Anderson ****
2. Lullaby Road by James Anderson
3. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka *****
4. Junction, Utah by Rebecca Lawton
5. The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber
6. Basin and Range by John McPhee (non-fiction)
7. Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer
8. Mormon Country by Wallace Stegner
9. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey
10. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

There are also a number of movies set in Arizona and Utah.

Arizona

1. Raising Arizona (1987) ****
2. Thelma and Louise (1991) ****
3. Grand Canyon (1991)
4. Tombstone (1993)
5. How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer (2005) ****
6. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
7. Lucky (2017) ****

Utah

1. The Electric Horseman (1979)
2. Footloose (1984) *****
3. Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade (1989)
4. 127 Hours (2010) ****

I haven’t had time to prepare my journal yet, but I have a couple of weeks left. I have however picked out the journals I will use.

journals for my Canyon & Cactus Road Trip

The orange highlights on the Utah map below show my route during my Four Corners Road Trip in 2018. The places I plan to go this time are circled in the southwestern part of the state.

Utah planning

The orange highlights on the Arizona map below show my route during my Four Corners Road Trip in 2018. The places I plan to go this time are circled in the southern part of the state. I plan to skip the Grand Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs on this trip.

Arizona planning

Here are a few pages from my travel journal, still in progress.

Canyon & Cactus Road Trip Journal

call to place: the canyon & cactus road trip

wanderessence1025 September 24, 2020

I’m called to spectacular canyons, blooming deserts, Saguaro cacti, colored bands of limestone and hoodoos, hanging gardens, wrinkles in the earth’s crust, and raging rivers. I’m called to get into the great outdoors and hike. I’m called to get far from civilization and out into the wilderness, far away from the daily news cycle and the plague of COVID-19.

Arches National Park – Utah

My heart was set on going to west Texas and New Mexico this year, but as fall approached, I could see it wasn’t going to work out. New Mexico has a lot of restrictions for travelers, notably a required two-week quarantine. Though they recently updated their travel restrictions, my home state of Virginia is still on their list of states required to quarantine. Many of the state’s state parks and museums are not open.

In west Texas, the main place I wanted to visit was Big Bend National Park, but the park is only partially open, and the recommended place to stay, Chisos Basin Lodge & Restaurant, is closed. Thus my reason for going to West Texas went down the drain. Though there were other places I wanted to visit, Big Bend was the biggest draw, and if New Mexico was out, I knew I needed to rethink my road trip.

A long-time destination on my list has been Arizona and the southwest corner of Utah. We did the Four Corners area, including southeast Utah, in May of 2018. Mike and I have always wanted to visit what is known as The Grand Circle, which includes the parks: Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, ~~Arches and Canyonlands National Parks~~, Grand Canyon National Park, and Capitol Reef National Park. We visited Arches and Canyonlands in 2018, so, skipping those, we would like to do a larger area than the Grand Circle, extending a little north into Utah and south down into Arizona. We’ve decided to skip the Grand Canyon this time around.

Arches Nataional Park, Utah

Natural Bridges, Utah

Canyonlands, Utah

As I only recently decided to do this trip, I am going to be doing it by the seat of my pants. Mike plans to fly out to meet me in Denver, and he will do the Grand Circle parks with me. Our son Alex and his girlfriend hopefully will drive along with us from Colorado and do the parks too.

After they all leave, I hope to head south into Arizona. I will drive out to Colorado (three 8+ hour days) and back (four 8+ hour days) by myself.

I’ve been to the Grand Canyon once in my life, on my road trip with with my first husband in 1979. At that time, we only stopped briefly into the park, and, as our camera had been stolen in San Diego, we didn’t take any pictures.

Canyon de Chelly in Arizona

I hope to leave in mid-October, but many things need to fall into place. 🙂

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