The Sonoran Desert & Saguaro National Park, Arizona
The types of cactus and landscape change as we approach Arizona from New Mexico. The saguaros sparse at first, appearing only occasionally among other cactus varieties in a giant pasture. Then suddenly, seemingly just as we cross the Arizona state line, they are overwhelmingly abundant everywhere we look. From the highway into the area, I...
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon in southern Utah is the last of the four national parks I visited on this road trip. (Prior parks: Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado, and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.) At this stage, I am equal parts exhausted, in awe of what...
Desert Hiking Trip to Moab, Utah
This was the second leg of my annual solo hiking trip to Utah. I spent the last few days in Salt Lake City and then hit the road for the gorgeous four-hour drive from Salt Lake City to Moab. It was a beautiful change of scenery navigating from the damp, cool mountains of northern Utah to...