If you have never traveled to the desert, I really encourage you to take the time and do it. For years I assumed the desert was a dry landscape with little to offer beyond rocks, sand, and a few lizards. Over the past decade I have made more and more trips to the desert and each time return home with a new sense of awe and appreciation. The desert really is alive!
Visiting in the spring time affords reasonable temperatures, long days, and plenty of wildlife, wildflowers, and even a rain shower or two. Call of the Wild's most recent trip to the Grand Canyon was a peak cactus blooming time, so the hillsides were exploding with yellow, pink, purple, and white. Every morning we were greeted to the bird calls in the canyon just as the sun was making its way up over the canyon walls. It felt more alive than many parts of the High Sierra in August.
En route to Beaver Falls we walked through jungle like foliage and past numerous wildflowers and other blooming plants. In camp, we were even treated to the sighting of a brilliant common king snake. With the blue green waters running through camp and the frogs in the background, you would have thought we were in the tropics.
I am already planning my next trip to the desert this fall. It really is that magical.
