What we miss from Arizona

Arizona – we miss a lot from here. Why? We liked this state the most among those we have visited. It is a desert state, but that does not mean it is desolate. Hihi… silly little pun. And he is hot this state.

What we certainly don’t miss from Arizona

At the risk of repeating myself, Arizona is hot. A really hot state. This is also shown in a small table of selected locations in Arizona, which lists the average temperatures (max/min) below. This data is from Weatherbase as of November 11, 2015.

Arizona temperatures

But that does not make this state any less interesting. Here also starts the Sonora Desert with the huge cacti that can grow up to 11 meters high. This is huge if you compare the cacti that are kept in Switzerland as ornamental plants – mini-mini-yes-where-are-they-cacti.

Apache Trail or State Route 88

We approached this route from Roosevelt Lake. The road first leads along a reservoir and then is actually just gravel road. Which doesn’t bother us at all. We think it’s kind of cool. After what feels like 30 kilometers of driving, however, it’s over. The road is closed. The reason is a monstrous 2019 fire that made about 7 miles (about 11 kilometers) of road down to Phoenix impassable. The area of 501 square kilometers is burned by the Tonto National Forest. That’s about 501 million square meters – or 46,388 soccer fields. I’m not a math genius – but that’s a brutally large area.

Biosphere 2 – Life on Mars

Biosphere 2 is a complex of buildings built in 1991 with the aim of creating a pristine ecosystem independent of the outside world. The experiment was intended to prove that life is possible in the long term in a self-contained, closed ecological system. It is considered a failure after two unsuccessful attempts. Biosphere 2 was founded by the billionaire Edward Bass built for 200 million US dollars. The project was supported by the NASA, which will use the knowledge gained for possible manned bases on the moon or Mars. wanted to evaluate. The name “Biosphere 2” was based on the idea of creating a scaled-down, “second” biosphere, while the original, Earth, is “Biosphere 1.”

Yes, and research is also being done here to see if terraforming is possible on Mars. Artificial environments will be created that will resemble Mars, and on these surfaces the researchers want to grow plants. Kind of like what Mark Watney aka Matt Damon did in the movie The Martian.

Bisbee and the copper mine

Ok, the title sounds like something out of a kids movie. “Jim Knopf and the Wild 13” or something. Bisbee was also formerly known as the “Queen of the Copper Deposits.” In the mine that is just around the corner, there used to be massive amounts of gold, silver and copper to mine. There are still occurrences however long no longer so importantly as end of the 19th century, beginning 20th century. Nevertheless, it is one of the most important places where precious metals and minerals are found. Around 500 minerals, it is one of the most mineral-rich areas in the world. Today, Bisbee is more like a big museum with flashy people and starkly colored houses.

Chiricahua National Monument – a dream of landscape

This area is a wonderland of rocks. Thousands of rocks that, like pancakes, create a labyrinth where you can actually get lost. We did the 17-mile trail. We actually couldn’t get out of our amazement. Depending on the position of the sun, the light between the rocks partly breaks into golden. Terrific.

Cottonwood, Jerome und Sedona

The area around Sedona is very diverse and almost indescribable. For up in the mountains, where the town of Jerome is located, you’ll find a copper mining museum and the Sliding Jail. In March 2017, the Jerome Historical Society purchased the former jail, now known as the Sliding Jail, from the Town of Jerome. The prison, rendered unusable by earthmoving since the 1930s but not completely destroyed, lies about 200 feet (60 m) below where it was originally built.

Cottonwood is basically a normal Arizona town. The old part of town is the core of the city due to very good restaurants and an old gas station. Still nice to look at and the story of the Yavapi is quite exciting.

Sedona – the destination of many a tourist and photo and selfie junkie. Here nature shows itself from the absolute best side. Hundreds of trails to walk on in a breathtaking nature of red sand and sandstone rocks. We then actually wanted to drive the Schnebly Hill Road and spend the night on the top of the plateau. But after 4 miles it was over with driving. The road was closed – mid-March 21 – because of snow. Wait a minute – we are Swiss. We are used to driving in the snow. And here there is no snow either down in the valley or up on the plateau. We have an off-road vehicle that can cope with the most adverse conditions. But the rangers don’t trust us to do that and tell us to turn back. Standard procedure applies to all.

Grand Canyon – everyone’s Arizona destination

“Yeah” I say as Claudia and I stand at the south exit of the Grand Canyon, “This is big…this hole in the ground.” I save myself to list the dimensions of the Grand Canyon in numbers or comparisons here. Who was there knows how big this hole in the ground is. If you haven’t been there yet, you should have visited it at least once in your life. What sucks, hugely sucks, is that the Navajo have closed the road wholesale in the east of the National Park. No passage possible. Reason: Covid measures. Hey, this is pure nature. This virus is all over the planet and is unlikely to stop at a roadblock. How senseless some measures are.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

This part of the Sonoran Desert invites you to marvel. Amazement at these huge large cacti. Organ pipe cacti grow up to 11 meters high, in some cases even up to 14 meters. But this is rare. Other than that, this area is nothing to get excited about. Lukeville isn’t that insane either except that you can marvel at the Trump wall here. This is not yet finished and has some gaps, so crossing the border is a piece of cake.

Conclusion

There is still so much to write about Arizona. We have liked it here the best so far. Tombstone the western town, Tucson with the Pima Aircraft Museum where we even saw a decommissioned Swiss Mirage to the Petrified Forest there is so much to see here. If only it wasn’t so hot in the summer. And here, more precisely in Phoenix, I took Claudia to the airport where she flew to Thailand for about 3 weeks to celebrate her mother’s 80th birthday. I picked Claudia up in San Francisco. This story will follow in the next travel report. The reader should be forewarned at this point. I will give my view of the Corona Plandemia in the next report. 🙂