We’ve visited friends and hiked in Arizona nearly every year for the past dozen years, maybe more. This year, we took an extra few days, visited friends at both ends, and went north to visit some national monuments and parks, starting with Winslow Arizona to visit the streetcorner park (“Take It Easy…”), Petrified National Park, Painted Desert National Park, and from our 4-day stay in Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon and Sunset Crater. In between, we hiked up to the cliff dwelling in Tonto National Monument and visited ancient peoples’ ruins in Wupatki National Monument. I used to live in Flagstaff as a kid, and it was fun to poke about the city. We explored the exhibits at Lowell Observatory (where Pluto was discovered 95-years ago), and returned at night to look at the stars with other visitors using amateur-operated telescopes, plus one of the “biggies” a 24-inch refracting telescope (long tube), one of the larger in the world of that type.

One highlight of the trip, among many, was hiking a mile along the Grand Canyon rim trail to reach the Bright Angel Trail, and then descending for six miles and 4000′ to enjoy views that constantly changed. The crowds thinned rapidly on the long decent, allowing us to enjoy a quiet meal in the ‘Garden” of trees near center of this photo. Then the long steady climb out before the sun set!

On the way south, we explored Sedona, stopped in my old town of Cottonwood, cut through Jerome, lunched in old town Prescott area, and then finally to Scottsdale.

Click the image to access the full trip gallery!