I Drew a Blank and Put it in a Frame: Tucson, Phoenix and on to Sedona

So we found a nice spot to camp in Tucson at a lookout on Mt. Lemmon. Turns out it's also a popular spot for kids to go and play loud music and drink. Luckily they didn't stay too long and we got a good night's rest. Also the moon setting over Tucson was pretty rad.

Unfortunately the next day was way too cold and windy to go climbing so we abandoned those plans and drove to Phoenix. The bartender the night before recommended some hot springs outside of the city so we drove there as we were both looking forward to a shower/soak.

The hot springs place was... unique... to say the least. Sort of homemade outdoor setting in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, we paid for 1 hour in the communal bath area, which also was nude-only bathing. In this area was an array of random tubs laid about where you would choose whichever tub suited you.

It was a fun, new and interesting experience for sure, but we were beyond happy to be clean again. We then drove to some BLM land to camp for the night.

Next day we found some climbing in Phoenix at an area called Tom's Thumb. The climbing was on desert granite, which was fun round granite covered in massive crystals. An aggressive hour long approach got us to the climbing where we put down a 2-pitch 5.6 rad route that was really fun. It was Camille's first time climbing on granite and she did awesome.

Then we drove towards Sedona and camped on some BLM that night. We finished the drive in the morning. Holy moly Sedona is beautiful. The town itself is incredibly touristy but the surrounding red rock sandstone cliffs and spires are spectacular.

The first day we did a nice 4.7 mile hike around some of the cliffs. We stopped a lot because every 20 feet was photo-worthy.

About halfway through the hike we found this incredible formation in the sandstone. There was a huge arch on the ground and then a smaller window above it.

When you climbed inside this formation it felt like you were on another planet. It was something I had yet to see in all my exploring of deserts thus far. And the lighting was incredible!!

Then on the hike back we found a large group of female Mule Deer accompanied by this one protective buck.

The next day we found a spot to climb. Another hour long approach filled with brutal scrambling and cacti to avoid at every step. Then we got to the route. Camille's first route on sandstone! She did awesome once again. It was a 3-pitch 5.9. To get to the start of it, you had to crawl through a tiny tunnel. New for me!