Arizona/ New Mexico

So we are currently in Flagstaff planning to leave for Joshua Tree National Park area this afternoon. We will be in JT for a week and will probably not be able to update during that time. The rest of our time in New Mexico and our time in Flagstaff has been great. On our last full day in NM we visited Bandelier National Monument and Santa Fe. Santa Fe was a tiny city with many shops selling various forms of art. We window-shopped checked out a 400 year old church and ate tamales (a first for both Noah and I). In Bandelier we mostly walked through Native American ruins and looked at petroglyphs but we did see what I am sure was a snake (yikes) poking his head out of a hole near the path we were on. Our time in New Mexico was very relaxing and we had a great time staying with Cyndi and James.

On our way to Flagstaff we stopped to look at Lava Beds at El Malpais National Monument and stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park to see petrified wood and views of the Painted Desert. The forest was ok but the views of the painted Desert were amazingly breathtaking. My favourite area of this was “the Tepees” an area just off the road with several sand hills of green gray purple pink and brown.

We continued from here to Flagstaff, a city which Noah and I have both fallen in love with. While here we have checked out sunset crater volcano national monument and the town of Sedona. In Sedona we hiked around the Red Rock of the area and climbed up Sugarloaf hill to see great panoramic views of the town and the area around it. In Flagstaff we checked out the downtown and areas around it. Sadly in June a large fire burned a portion of the forest just around Flagstaff but luckily narrowly missed the city itself. (the fire was started by an abandoned campfire... a reminder to always put out fires with water, never leave fires unattended) We had a lot of fun staying with Graham, bouldering at the Priest Draw area, climbing at the Pit and taking place in recreational Ultimate and volleyball games.

We also spent a day and a night in the Grand Canyon. We were unlucky enough to arrive on an extreme heat warning day (115+ at the base of the canyon) but then again what else could we expect in July. We did a short but rewarding hike along the South Kabib trail which offered great views of both the east and west ends of the canyon. We got out of the canyon by 11 but not before the temp at our turn around point was already over 95 degrees. Luckily we were prepared with plenty of food and water, hats and a ton of sunscreen. The canyon was beautiful and full of wildlife we saw a herd of 6 elk, lizards, ravens, squirrels and a massive black widow spider that was hiding in a hole in the limestone of the canyon.

After leaving the canyon the drive back was full of surprises with torrential rain followed by SNOW. If you don’t believe it we have photos.