Sonoran Spring

March 5-9, 2026

Background

Joelle was gifted some surprise company holidays, so we took a long weekend road trip to see new parts of Arizona at a lovely time of year. We biked and hiked, ate well, slept well, and enjoyed the desert's most colorful season. March is my favorite month in Arizona for the sheer variety of activities that can be done in good condition, and because it is simultaneously the goldilocks season for pleasant conditions in the Sonoran. It was a great trip, but one that I don't feel the need to document in great detail nor have time to. Photography was a major focus of mine though, so I'm taking a moment to assemble my favorite shots here so that they may be better enjoyed andlive longer than on social media. Let's go!

Our second ride of Day 1 at Hawes, southeast of Phoenix

Fading brittlebush blooms and a bee mid-flight

I love how cholla glow in evening light!

Red Mountain summit in the distance

Finding some Arizona lupine!

Shady pockets still held flowers, but most places were drying out

A good time on the bikes, time to head to some more remote places!

Poppies became easier to find as we drove uphill out of Superior

One of about ten Anna's Hummingbirds in a massive field of Parry's Penstemon

A great view of the irridescent pink head, which is only visible at certain light angles

The brilliant teal body, which also glows only in certain light

Certainly the best wildlife photo I have ever captured!

After trying for over an hour, I was finally able to predictively manually focus, and was able to capture some good video of these guys. I was grateful for my GH5's high frame rate and excellent stabilization to be able to slow them down and observe how they move. The 140mm lens served better than I ever imagined it would thanks to the exceptional proximity of this time - one of the best wildlife experiences I have ever had!

Poppies and penstemon - a winning combo!

Four Peaks behind Roosevelt as we drove out Cherry Creek Road

A quick cleanse at the upper Salt takeout

The view from our campsite on Cherry Creek Road was so good we stayed two nights. We may have also been tired!

Mornin' cholla

Glad to have Hydra for this type of trip - 20 miles on gravel followed by five miles of chunk that took an hour.

Our old Rav4 can handle gravel, but the truck feels less abused by it, and got use way up here.

Hiking up the easy beginning of the Pueblo Canyon trail

Western Wallflower - one of many new ones for me in this area

A pleasant bench above a difficult section of trail. A few logs had fallen across a series of well-built switchbacks, causing hikers in recent years to abandon the trail, which was also becoming overgrown, and do a steep, eroding scramble instead.

Luckily I had brought my folding saw and lightweight loppers, expecting to do some maintenence, so on the way back later we spent 20 minutes reopening the nice switchbacks and closing the scree path.

Another, more mandatory steep pitch near the top.

Worth it for views like this Phacelia!

The Pueblo canyon trail gains a ledge and then traverses for two miles around the same elevation. The shady south side had more ceiling drips and seeps than I had ever seen before.

One of the many reasons why the Salado people live here 7-800 years ago.

Passing through a cool crevice

The divine waterfall at the back of the canyon, which the trail travels behind

Into the sunny side -

-where it seems they preferred to live.

Some of the beautiful wood beams remain in place

Amazingly thin wall remnant

Cottonwoods indicate water availability on this side, too.

Cool caves in the cliff layer below

I was fascinated by this plugged doorway in the back

Textures and colors like no others I've seen before

More wallflower

I wonder where exactly this corn was grown?

The geology here is so foreign to me

Site #1, where we turned around

Site #2, which we didn't make it to

Site #3

Lupine and Prickly Pear - almost dark, almost down

We were happy to drive out Cherry Creek Road in the daylight this time

We stopped at an excellent swimming hole near a corral. Above where the road is maintained, the Cherry Creek valley is the domain of cattle ranchers on horseback. It's Tonto National Forest, but is so massively inaccessible by vehicle and has such unique terrain that it felt otherworldly to me, like being in a remote part of Mexico.

Poppies pair well with many flowers

Many areas were carpeted with purple Owl's Clover

At the junction with 288 we turned right, onto another new-to-us section of road

And were rewarded immediately with a fabulous crested saguaro

Passing motorists perhaps wondered why a man was laying on the side of the road, head on the gravel

With a perfectly good truck nearby

We drove up the freshly burned southwest slopes of the Ancha

Which had different flowers still

And some rad terrain in Parker Creek

Totally smoked, but at least someone's happy

At the top of the hill, the 288 leaves the burn area, but also become boring, and mostly dirt. Young was interesting, a town more remote than I though could exist in Arizona, but we mostly just cruised through all the way to the 260.