Explore the journey — one trail, museum, meal, and memory at a time.

Drive to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Drive to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

I left Benson, Arizona debating whether to drive south to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The desert drive revealed abandoned buildings, desperate handwritten signs, and miles of roadside graves. Inside the monument, I learned how organ pipe and saguaro cacti sustain birds, bats, and Indigenous communities. It was a day of beauty, weight, and reflection in the Sonoran Desert.

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Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend

Leaving Hurricane, Utah, I headed south into Arizona, driving through the charred remains of the 2020 Mangum Fire in Kaibab National Forest before stopping at the historic Cliff Dwellers Stone House. The day ended at Horseshoe Bend, where the Colorado River curves 1,000 feet below the rim near Page, Arizona.

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