Many people find their happy place near the ocean or forest, and while I do not question that, my happy place is the mountains. Arizona was such an easy choice when we decided to move to warmer weather because not only is the Sonoran desert spectacular most of the year, the mountains call my name when the temperatures start to soar. While snowy mountains look pretty, I have had enough snow and ice in my life that I’m not tempted to trek up to that anymore. I still have an unused pair of snow shoes in my garage! But we fully take advantage of high-country summers.
The past few weeks we’ve been exploring the Payson, Sedona and Flagstaff areas. For me, the best part is being outdoors and hiking. My husband always likes to take pictures of my backside and this is what he captured last week. I like to think of it as action shot since I have one foot raised.
Payson, Arizona is a small town about two hours from us and most hiking near the area is over a mile high in altitude, so a bit cooler. The Mogollon Rim is a 2000 foot escarpment that runs from central Arizona into New Mexico. While hiking, you can literally stand at the edge and see views for miles – from the pine forest to the desert. It is stunningly beautiful.
The Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery sits at the top of some beautiful hiking trails. In addition to nearby hiking, there are picnic areas and tons of wildlife watching. We saw an eagle and a couple of snakes on the walk there. Arizona’s state fish is the Apache trout and they have thousands there in various sizes. They also have a nice visitor center with tons of information about the area and the most famous past resident – Zane Grey.
One of my favorite hikes is Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. It’s not a long hike, but it’s straight down and straight back up – so not for everyone. The bridge is thought to be the largest natural travertine arch in the world. Just gorgeous.
A group of friends and family stayed at Kohl’s Ranch and here’s a silly pic. In the front row is BFF Evon and directly behind her is BFF Shira in the yellow polkadot bikini, whoops, I mean blouse. Three generations of the Lulis men – John, Ryan and Conner are pictured. Gordon, Jessi, Amanda and I round out the photo.
Sedona, Arizona is a short hour drive from our home, so it’s a place we visit a lot and happens to be one of my favorite places on earth. I cannot do it justice by adding it to this post, so I’ll expound more on another post.
Flagstaff, Arizona takes us less than two hours to drive and sits at 7,000’ altitude, with nearby hiking at a much higher altitude. Flagstaff is also sort of the gateway to the Grand Canyon and is a stop for many international visitors heading there or back. On our latest ventures there, we walked the Flagstaff Urban Trail and visited the historic downtown area. Since it is a college town (Northern Arizona University), there are a lot of trendy and fun restaurants and bars. We loved Josephine’s. I had the most delish red pepper and artichoke soup. We hiked the Aspen Nature Loop at Arizona Snowbowl. I have to say, it was probably the most beautiful hike I have ever done. It was the perfect morning, and the wildflowers and aspen trees were stunning. There are 360 degrees views of mountains clearly visible from the meadow areas. No pictures I take can do it justice, but it was a glorious day.
Fires
The week before last we hiked at Mt. Eldon and this week, that area is on fire. When I’m in nature, I commune with the Divine. In fact, I consider it so sacred it is part of my worship. If you are a praying person, those firefighters, animals and residents would probably appreciate all the help they can get.
Are those Nordic hiking poles? How do you like them?
Yes, I believe they are. They were a gift. I like to use them when there are lots of hills – it really helps with the “down” part.