1/7

https://www.instagram.com/seancheckowski?igsh=bW93eGxuMzl4cTg4&utm_source=qr

Flew into Phoenix and rented a car. Drove to Tucson and did Saguaro first. Really cool place. I did the West unit in the evening and the East at sunrise the next morning. The west side was completely dead when I was there, which surprised me. The evening light hitting the Saguaros was incredible. I mostly just did the drives and viewpoints, but hit all the smaller trails as well. This is a park you can pretty much polish off in a day while taking your time.

Then off to White Sands the next day. The plane crash limited how much I could see and do but I made the most of it. Had a nice sunset, but if I’m ever within a few hours of the park I would come back to have a proper experience.

I did Carlsbad and Guadalupe together in a day. Did the Caverns first thing in the morning (beat the crowds, seriously), then hiked Guadalupe Peak in the afternoon. Not ideal as I was overheated the entire time haha. I did the Walnut Canyon overlook on the way into Carlsbad and this small cave turnout on the way out to experience a little bit of the above ground offerings. The scenic road was closed due to a flood a couple years ago. As for Guadalupe, I really only had time for one big hike, which was unfortunate since most of the trails are big monsters haha. I chose the peak since that’s the “iconic” one, I did El Capitan overlook for sunset and sunrise. Sunset was ok but sunrise was absolutely incredible.

From there it was a 5.5 hour drive to Big Bend. Did 2 nights camping here. Recommend the Chisos Basin for camping as it’s like 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of the park. Did the Boquillas, MX crossing and had a blast (first time in Mexico). Did Santa Elena Canyon for sunset. My second day was spent hiking - South Rim in the morning, Boquillas Canyon in the afternoon, and the Lost Mine at sunset. Walking back in the pitch black wasn’t my favourite but oh well haha. I did Santa Elena Canyon again the next morning to see it in a different light - I recommend seeing it twice as it’s really a striking difference.

I was going to originally drive back to Phoenix though White Sands and Saguaro again but after the White Sands closure and my thorough Saguaro visit, I decided to squeeze in Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon together in a day instead. I drove from Big Bend to Albuquerque, which was like 10 hours or something.. it sucked haha. I’m from Canada, so I’m at least used to long distance driving.

Woke up early the next day and drive 2 hours straight to Petrified Forest. Again, go early if you can. I was the Blue Mesa and Crystal Forest trails all to myself. Once I got to the Big Trees (I think that’s the name) trail at the South entrance of the park, there were hundreds of people of the trail, so after about five minutes on the trail, I bailed (Crystal Forest was pretty much the same thing, but better IMO) and headed straight to Grand Canyon.

I got to Grand Canyon around 1:30 pm, so basically the worst time of day to see it haha. Hazy and full of people. Not ideal conditions, but better than not seeing it at all. I came in from the east entrance and stoped along all the overlooks - most of them looked the same to me, but the haze was perhaps to blame for that. Made my way to the visitor centre and hopped on the shuttle to check out the rest of the south rim. I walked between most of the stops. Cool to see the canyon but I definitely felt underwhelmed after coming from some of the more rustic parks - just felt very Disney to me.

Sunset delivered, and that was a nice cap off to my trip.

Started planning and booking in November so it was nice to execute my itinerary as best I could. I was originally going to go with a couple friends but they both bailed so this ended up as a solo trip. Suited me fine as it was nice to unplug for a week.