HikeArizona.COM

There are a lot of things wrong with AZ, but it sure is a pretty nice place to be. Especially when compared to other places I have been or seen. Never mind the politics, the issues, the whatever, this state is easily in the top 4 or 5 states to live in, and maybe the best. Who's with me?

I've never even seen a mosquito, I don't have to deal with snow if I live at lower elevation (yet can still play in it), and there is so much variety here it's nearly impossible to beat. It's also pretty far south so the sun is more moderated between the seasons than say, every state north of us. We've got rock from granite to red sandstone, and people literally travel many, many thousands of miles to gawk at our holes. I know Colorado, Utah and parts of California have higher and more impressive mountains, but I've never had a view from them like Humphrey. New Mexico might have a river that runs through it, but we've got a man made canal. California has the ocean, but we've got Yuma. Uh, well, California is way more expensive.

jhodlof experience wrote:New Mexico might have a river that runs through it

The Colorado doesn't just form our western border...

PageRob wrote:

jhodlof experience wrote:New Mexico might have a river that runs through it

The Colorado doesn't just form our western border...

True, but the whole state of NM is cut in half by the Rio Grande. We've got the Salt, and the Verde, and a few others, too.

jhodlof experience wrote:we've got Yuma

Can't we just leave it at: "Arizona - we've got potential!"

In response to jhodlof experience: You're preaching to the choir...
viewtopic.php?t=1074
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Hey, I like Yuma! Great kayaking! http://www.hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=10754

So, yeah, you are preaching to the choir. Everytime I think about moving anywhere else, then I don't. New Mexico would be good. Utah is, well, it's Utah. You visit Utah, but do you LIVE in Utah? Colorado is cold and expensive. SoCal has some surprisingly great hiking, and surfing, but who can afford it, and plus, it is a pain in the neck to have to share space with so many other folks. Northern Cal I like. Oregon, great when it's not raining. I hate rain. I already lived in Hawaii, been there, done that. Might try Maui, I hear the hiking is great on Maui. I can't afford Maui, though. Oh, I left out Texas and the whole East coast and the South (I don't do hairdos or makeup, so I can't live there). And the midwest. Maybe some good kayaking in the midwest, and some road biking. You'd have to be awfully creative to live in Omaha. I have a friend who lives there, she complains about the people constantly. Too conservative, too boring, too provincial, too fat.

I have seen lots of mosquitos in Arizona. I have never seen a summer without mosquitos in Tucson or the White Mtns. However, they are little mosquitos.

I might move back to California sometime. Or not. I might spend the winter there, if I can find anyplace to live as cheap as I found down in YUMA!

azbackpackr wrote: I have seen lots of mosquitos in Arizona. I have never seen a summer without mosquitos in Tucson or the White Mtns. However, they are little mosquitos.

I guess that is one of the nice things about not having surface water in and around Flagstaff: no insects. I hardly ever see flies, bees, anything really, but I don't mind. Besides, my insect pollinated fruits and vegetables come from elsewhere, probably 99% from California.

You know what else? If you aren't already aware of it, Flagstaff silenced the train horns a little over a month ago. Even though I don't expect to be in the area in a year, it's nice to know the last 9 months or so that I am here will be free of horn. It's been really nice since it stopped.

azbackpackr wrote:Oregon, great when it's not raining. I hate rain.

300 days of sunshine per year makes us spoiled!

I just got from Death Valley, and spent 4 nights in the small town of Beatty, Nevada (the "gateway to Death Valley"). I must say that Death Valley is an amazing place, but it definitely made me appreciate the Sonoran Desert and it's few extra inches of precipitation every year. I've been asked about my plans for the future a lot recently, especially since I got engaged in February. Our original plan was to move to Denver for a couple years, which would've been fun, but I was a but unsettled about it. Now we are moving to Phoenix for a couple years after I graduate in December. As much as I dislike the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, I've come to realize that my heart is very much in Arizona. I am looking forward to exploring more of the Sonoran desert, and my mountain home of Flagstaff will still be within two hours drive. In the far future, I hope we can settle down in Tucson or Sedona, which have more of the political and cultural scenes I am more into, as well is my preference for snow-free four season hiking in very close vicinity. I do love Flagstaff a whole hell of a lot, but I do hate the cold winters. Anyway, I've had the chance to travel around the southwest recently, and while California, Utah and Colorado are stunningly beautiful states, I just can't see myself living anywhere other than Arizona. Maybe Colorado Springs, but that's a long shot for my situation. Another thing for certain: I will never, ever live in Nevada. It has some beautiful landscapes, but not a hell of a lot of variety, but all of the cities and towns are repugnant. Yes, I am so thankful for my home Arizona.

jhodlof experience wrote:Even though I don't expect to be in the area in a year, it's nice to know the last 9 months or so that I am here will be free of horn.

Where are you headed to next?

azbackpackr wrote: I have never seen a summer without mosquitos in Tucson or the White Mtns. However, they are little mosquitos.

Little or not, they're frequently the notorious Aedes aegypti...

I like Arizona because I do not have to shovel heat or scrape it off my windshield.

jhodlof experience wrote:You know what else? If you aren't already aware of it, Flagstaff silenced the train horns a little over a month ago. Even though I don't expect to be in the area in a year, it's nice to know the last 9 months or so that I am here will be free of horn. It's been really nice since it stopped.

Sorry, I totally disagree with you on this topic. You and just about two other do-gooders are happy about the train horns, I guess. My daughter says this policy will probably last just until some drunk student tries to cross the tracks and gets killed. She is convinced it will happen within a year. Apparently there are quite a few bars on both sides of the tracks, where students frequently cross, and there are these arch things for pedestrians. She thinks drunk students will ignore the arches. Needless to say, Native Americans are also at risk.

She lives a block from the train, and stopped noticing the horns years ago, but now she misses them. Her friend says she just never even hears them at all, she lives near the tracks also. They both said although they have a large social network there, they have yet to meet anyone who was in favor of the change. They say they don't even know whose idea it could have been, since no one they know actually wanted it. I am just going to miss going to Flag and hearing them. I like the trains and I like the sounds of the trains, including horns, squeaks, squeels, rattles, rumbles, clanks, etc.

I live not too far from the major SP yard here in Tucson and we get the horns at all hours, as well. I sort of like them; they're nostalgic of the Old West, in a way...

You kind of get used to the train horns after a while, but I think in the summer when everyone has their windows open all night because nobody has air conditioning, it will be a different story. There's nothing worse than watching a movie and then a train comes barreling through and the horn drowns out the dialogue.

I lived for 11 years within 200 feet of a busy dual track. It didn't take long to grow oblivious to the horn. I was surprised to see the signs up in Flagstaff about the horns. Very few places would tolerate the perceived risk of silencing the horns, especially to children. Where I live now, parents are trying to ban a proposed twice-a-day commuter train to NY in part because of the supposed risk to children. (Of course those same parents let their kids skateboard around the blind corner of a busy road with headphones on).

Anyway, in lieu of singing, I'll hum the praise of Arizona quietly to myself.

I have a relative who came to AZ during territorial times to help build the first rail tracks that made AZ what it is today (An engineer named "Chambers.") Some of our great cities were little more than outposts before the train tracks came their way. AZ would not have been able to export many of the 'C's were it not for those trains. I try to keep all of that in mind when one occasionally wakes me up at 0300...

She said she believes in Robin Hood and brotherhood
And colours of green and grey
And all you can do is laugh at her
Doesn't anybody know how to pray?

Arizona, take off your rainbow shades
Arizona, have another look at the world

Yeah - I don't know what it means, either.

I love trains. A pal of mine is retired from the RR so he gets to go on all these great train rides for cheap. The other day he was trying to catch the train in Tucson to ride to Chicago so he could catch the City of New Orleans. Yes, despite what the old song says about its demise, it still exists! Anyway, he was trying to catch the train to Chicago, but it was delayed by the earthquake, so I haven't heard if he made it to Chi-town on time.

I rode the Zephyr Feather River train in 1961 when I was 8, before they built the dam that covered up the tracks. I have ridden the train up the Calif coast, and trains in British Columbia, the East Coast and in England. So my train experience is not great, but it is still memorable.

On the other hand, when my younger son was 17 he and his girlfriend hopped a freight in Tucson and rode it to Yuma! Now, that was an adventure!

PageRob wrote:

jhodlof experience wrote:Even though I don't expect to be in the area in a year, it's nice to know the last 9 months or so that I am here will be free of horn.

Where are you headed to next?

No clue, but when school is over in December (hopefully) I don't expect to get a job at FMC. Believe it or not, going to the Valley last week has made me consider that area as an option. The rock on Pyramid Peak was great. I could use more granite in my life.