TUCSON, AZ
I officially took the first hike of my trip!
The great thing about working east coast hours from the west coast is that, while yes, being online at 5:00 am stinks, being done by 2:00 pm is awesome and leaves plenty of time to explore in the afternoon/evening.
Today I headed out to Saguaro National Park, just east of Tucson. The park gets its name from the large saguaro cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert and does not grow naturally elsewhere. I chose Bridal Wreath Falls for my first hike - 5.8 miles out-and-back with an 1,110 ft elevation gain.
The weather was perfect - a cool 70 degrees with overcast skies that started clearing up by the end of my hike.
The saguaro cactus are incredible.
And here are the "falls" at the end of the hike. What else would you expect from a desert hike?
Tanque Verde Falls
After hiking Bridal Wreath Falls, I took a short drive over to Tanque Verde Falls Trail in Coronado National Forest. This was a quick hike down into a canyon and then back up - exactly 1 mile round trip, 281 ft elevation gain.
The clouds from earlier finally broke and got to see a little bit of blue poke through.
This park actually had water. :)
