Arizona from a nature perspective.
- traveltales
- Aug 19, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 8, 2023
I had my first visit to Arizona recently for 5 days. Due to Covid we limited our time to outdoor activities. We started in the southern part of the state in Phoenix (did not have enough time to go to Tucson area as our primary goal was Sedona). We went to Phoenix at the end of summer and it was the hottest week with temperatures crossing 110 degrees F. We were only spending a full day in Phoenix and then heading to Sedona which was at least 20 degrees cooler.
We started with a short hike at south mountain preserve at sunrise as that is where we were staying. It was a lot of dry grasses, scrub brush, and saguaro cacti. These cacti can live over 150 years and grow over 40 feet. It can take decades to grow flowers or branches.
I had become interested in birds over the last 4 months so we went to the Riparian water ranch in Gilbert, about 20 minutes away. I was happy to see some new species and had fun photographing them. This is just a few of my pics, if interested please visit IG @traveltales100
After that we picked up food and headed back to our room. In the evening we went to Papago park and climbed up to “hole in the rock”…
The next morning we headed to the desert botanical garden. You need to reserve tickets ahead of time. We went at 6:00 am, the earliest time slot. We saw many varieties of cacti and other plants. Best part was again the birds for me. I got to see at least 6-8 hummingbirds buzzing around. Unfortunately spring is when most of the flowers bloom so we missed the better weather and time of year to be there, however it is still a beautiful oasis. Also, hummingbirds are more abundant in the summer.
Then we packed up and headed to Sedona! The drive was just 2 hours and we watched as the saguaro cactus made way to trees as we went to higher elevations of 4000 feet. The air was also cooler. Below is one of our first views of the red rocks of sedona. We took the senic drive and made some stops along the way. We had an unexpected rain shower at 4pm further cooling everything. The place we stayed in West Sedona was Wyndham resort, which had tons of birds, yay! If you want to see more of my bird pictures and landscapes follow me on Instagram @traveltales100.
The next day was spent hiking. My first goal was to climb devils bridge, which was the best part. It was a beautiful morning, plenty of trees and still cool. The view and the thrill of taking pictures was fun. I slipped near the top so a bit of caution and wear good shoes. It is about 4 miles round trip hike from the parking lot. We went to red rock canyon state park afterwards. It was a little bit of a disappointment because the the main visitor center was closed so they didn’t have a bunch of hummingbirds. We walked around a bit and headed back to the room for the afternoon as it is still gets hot after 11 or 12.
The next day was the trip to the grand canyon south rim. The drive was about 2 hours. We started early around 5am. It was a beautiful drive in the mountains and we went up to 7000 feet of elevation. The air was again another 10 degrees cooler by the time we passed Flagstaff. So we went from 90’s to 70’s to 60’s temperature in the mornings from southern to northern Arizona and climbed to an elevation of 7000 feet in just 4 hours distance. We stayed on the south rim and did not venture on any trails that go into the canyon this time.
We headed back to Sedona in the afternoon and stopped for another quick hike near slide rock state park. Also below are a few other common wildlife species that can be seen besides birds. The javelina which looks like a small pig and rabbits. The Gambel’s quail is common to Arizona and I thought they were adorable. We did not see elk or bears during our drive or short trail walking.
That concludes the trip as we head back towards Phoenix and then home. We did not eat in any restaurants but had takeout. Many places were open limited hours and seating. We had pizza, Thai, Indian, Mexican, and American food. Each dinner was a different cuisine and all of it good!
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