OCTOBER 4, 2026

Land of Giants: Arizona with Vader

Vader and I loaded up the car and pointed it at Arizona. Then we did it again. And again. Three road trips, in January, April and June, two or three days each time. I had a rough plan: red rock, pine trees, cactus, and as many golden hours as we could catch. Arizona had a bigger plan than mine.

STAGE 1 · SEDONA

We started on the red rock, and Vader started by jumping straight into the air. That set the tone for the whole trip.

Vader leaping on the red slickrock with Sedona’s cliffs behind him

Sedona at golden hour doesn’t look real. The cliffs light up orange from the bottom up, and the slickrock under your feet glows like the floor of a giant oven. Every trail seemed to end at a view too big for one frame, so I mostly stopped trying and put Vader in front of it instead. A small black dog against a wall of red rock gives you a sense of scale nothing else does.

Vader sitting on red rock in front of the Sedona cliffs at golden hour

My favorite moment came at the end of the day: the sun dropping behind the buttes, the sky going deep blue, and the moon rising over a cliff that was still on fire.

The moon rising over glowing red cliffs in Sedona

STAGE 2 · INTO THE PINES

Heading north, the road climbs out of the desert and into ponderosa pine. A little ranger station sign told us we were at 6,420 feet, with Flagstaff one way and Sedona the other. Vader found a stick, which in his opinion was the best thing in the state so far.

Vader proudly carrying a stick through the pine forest

STAGE 3 · DESERT GARDENS

Somewhere between the pines and the saguaros we wandered through a cactus nursery, rows and rows of barrel cactus in little pots under a long shade house. Vader walked the center aisle like he owned the place.

Vader walking down the long aisle of a cactus nursery

STAGE 4 · THE SAGUAROS

Then came the Sonoran Desert and Saguaro National Park, both the east and west sides of it. This is the part I’ll be talking about for years.

I’d seen saguaros in pictures my whole life. Standing among them is something else. Some are taller than a house and older than anyone I know, and they stand with their arms raised to the sky like the whole desert is cheering. Every bend in the road had another one, each a little stranger and more wonderful than the last. I felt small and lucky and wide awake all at once. It was honestly life changing.

Three tall saguaros against a big blue sky

A hillside covered in saguaros as far as you can see

The car got its moment too. It earned it.

The car parked on a desert road with saguaros all around

From there the road wound up a mountain, past cliffs and hoodoos, until the desert was spread out below us like a map.

A winding mountain road high above the desert floor

STAGE 5 · PALMS AND PONDS

In Tucson we found Gene C. Reid Park, where palm-lined ponds felt like a mirage. The water was so still it doubled every tree. Vader made two new friends, a pair of white ducks, who were much less excited about the meeting than he was.

Vader watching two white ducks at the edge of a pond

Vader sitting by a palm-lined pond with the trees reflected in the water

STAGE 6 · LAST LIGHT

Some of the best light of the trip came up in the high meadows, with the mountains behind us and the pines lined up against the sky. Vader posed on a rock like he’d been doing it his whole life.

Vader standing on a rock in a high meadow with the mountains behind him

And then the sky did this.

A blazing pink and orange sunset behind silhouetted pine trees

BONUS STAGE · NIGHT

We closed it out in Phoenix the way I like to close out any city: walking the streets after dark, under murals and neon, Vader leading the way down a sidewalk glowing red.

Vader on a city sidewalk at night, lit by red neon

GAME OVER?

Not even close. Arizona surprised me at every turn, and I can’t stop thinking about it. If you want to see the whole trip, the full Arizona gallery has every shot, in order, from the first jump in Sedona to the last neon light. And if you’d rather play it, Vader’s got two games now: Vader’s Arizona Trail and Desert Dash.

See you on the next trail.

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