Desert Offerings

Desert environment in Grand Canyon National Park

​I hear two sides to driving in the desert. First, there's the crowd who says, "There's nothing for miles", and I also hear people say, "It's a beautiful landscape."

It's picturesque on the surface, but below the surface you'll find a vast, amazing and brilliant world to explore.

Deserts are filled with millions of organisms of greens and tans, just staring down at you from their dry, hightop perches above the desert landscape. It's like they are all little versions of Yertle the Turtle from the Dr. Seuss storybook, looking down upon the cars as if to say,"I rule all that I see!". 

Moving traffic is the entertainment of the hills and plants surrounding the highway on I-15 in southern Arizona, waiting for the observers in their vehicles to notice the patches of grasses, sagebrush and Joshua trees standing on the landscape. Each patch of greenery is a thriving community of microorganisms, small reptiles and plants. Millions upon millions of these little "islands of the desert" surround the road - contrasting the natural world to the strip of modern world, winding its way through the vast expanse of the desert.

Hiking through the desert is a fun, exciting and exhilarating outdoor experience you will want to have at least once in your life. Sage-scented air swirls around rock formations, and if you know where to look, certain spots have rock art from indigenous tribes dating back hundreds to thousands of years. Art from pre-historic tribes who marked their territory, where they buried their dead, or drawing pictures of the day-to-day activities such as hunting.

The desert offers much to those who stop to look. Take your time, close your eyes, and experience what this fragile location has to offer. Then open your eyes and see the beauty which falls across the landscape.

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