During a typical week, we work Monday – Thursday, explore Fri – Sun (navigating around travel days, of course). That does not allow a ton of time to check out the highlights of each region (another reason to slow down a bit going forward), but we’ve managed to fit in some extraordinary hikes, museum visits, and bike rides. We wanted to share a few of these with you, and to ask you to share your faves with us. Have you done any of these? Any recommendations for our fall/winter adventures (see the updated map for our plans!)?
Evening Hike at Saguaro National Park
We almost never do guided hikes. Generally, we’d prefer to create our own itinerary and allow time/space for diversion as we explore. However, we could not pass up the chance to do an evening hike at Saguaro National Park near Tuscon, AZ. We are so glad we decided to do it! Our park ranger guide was terrific — she had lots of interesting info to share, was very open to questions; and kept the group moving at a good pace. It’s incredible to be walking amongst these extraordinary plants at sunset, and to be finding our way back to our car under the stars. Definitely not an experience we could have had without a guide!
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
While we were in Tucson, we spent an afternoon at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which describes itself as “a fusion experience: zoo, botanical garden, art gallery & classes, natural history museum, and aquarium.” It was laid out beautifully, and interpreted in an accessible and engaging way. There was a lot to love about this place, but one of our favorite aspects was the Desert Loop Trail, which offered gorgeous views of the landscape and fun sightings of some of its inhabitants. It’s an ambitious undertaking to be a “fusion experience” but this museum does it extraordinarily well!
Birthday hike in Sedona
Michele declared that all she wanted for her birthday was a hike and dinner in Sedona. It’s one of those places that we’ve dreamed about (and we know we’re not alone in that dreaming). We’d heard from some of the locals in Cottonwood (where we were staying) that Sedona had become too commercialized and crowded. In our experience, it’s definitely built up, but in a way that generally manages to coexist with its beauty. And once you’re on one of the area’s stunning hiking trails, you quickly forget about the New Age superstores and chain hotels. We had a fabulous trek with gorgeous views of red rock formations (and definitely earned that dinner!). On the way into dinner we met some javelinas up close and in the dark… thankfully they were beating a hasty retreat back to the surrounding woods!
The Redwoods + Lost Coast
It was pretty cool and rainy when we visited Myers Flat and Crescent City — two towns along Route 101 in CA, both deep in redwood country. While the impact of the recent storms limited our hiking options (a fair number of trails were closed), the gray skies and mist made an already otherworldly experience even more so. Our drive along the Avenue of the Giants was unlike any we’ve taken (and we’ve taken some pretty extraordinary drives at this point).
To meander along a dark (even in daytime) narrow road with immense trees on either side is both inspiring and humbling. Even with the trail closures, we did manage to find some pretty incredible hikes. In each case we felt like we’d stumbled into a C.S. Lewis novel, that we had somehow left our world behind to be guests in a verdant forest with its own deep history and rules of existence.
Our drive along part of California’s Lost Coast was the perfect counterpoint to our redwood hikes. Most of this region is inaccessible by major roads, leaving it pristine and safe from the massive development often seen in other beach locations.
Access is also tide-dependent — we’re grateful for the fact that we happened upon Black Sands Beach when the tide was out. After immersing ourselves in the redwood forest, walking that beach and viewing the ocean from the rocks above it felt like taking a deep breath and a nice big stretch!
