Fragabond

The past couple of weeks have closed out our national park tour spectacularly. Not only is Christmas music playing in every little shop I walk in, but we have had the opportunity to visit three different parks within a short two-week span.

First, we spent a few weekdays in Joshua Tree, during one of which we weathered a desert windstorm, complete with stinging sand and some minor property damage to the Airbnb. Not too big a feat for these Florida kids though – we remember the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons… (Speaking of hurricanes, shout out and thanks to my OGs, who buttoned up our house for hurricane Nicole that same week. Life is better with a team, and I am so grateful (and homesick) for mine ☺︎).

Anyways, Joshua Tree is named after these curious and warped desert plants that grow all over the place. Apparently early Mormon settlers thought they resembled Joshua pointing their people to the promised land when they first arrived in the area. A real insult to Joshua if you ask me.

We hiked a little in Joshua Tree National Park, but we mostly enjoyed driving around and admiring the unique scenery (while constantly applying lip balm). The real climactic hike came when we made it to Arizona the following weekend. We stayed in Flagstaff, which is a super fun town, and our Airbnb had a pool table so we got to practice our shark skills for a week…but what can I say? The Grand Canyon. We woke up the first Saturday at an ungodly hour, drove 90 minutes out to the park, took a shuttle to the trailhead, and still managed to start in the dark. It snowed lightly until the sun rose, only about 15 minutes from our start, mercifully. We hiked all the way down to the Colorado River and all the way back up, 20 miles total, AND there were mules. Maybe everyone knows this, but it turns out pack mules are the only way to transport goods into Phantom Ranch, the tiny camp settlement at the bottom of the canyon, and we were passed by a parade of them on our way down the trail. Yes, 10 mules tied up in single-file are faster than two Fragas. Judge not.

I was a big fan of Phantom Ranch. Maybe it is a remnant from growing up around the cellophane delights of Disney World, but the ability to rest at mile 8, buy a vacuum-packed t-shirt, and sip on a hot coffee for a moment in the wilderness was just marvelous. By the time we finished our treats and started the hike back up another wall of the canyon, we felt refreshed. And (apologies for self-congratulating here) we crushed the hike up the canyon. We ultimately climbed over 5,000 feet and, despite our Phantom Ranch pitstop, we finished the whole 20 miles in well under 8 hours. A beer (sold right there in Grand Canyon Village, of course) never tasted so good.

The rest of the week we revisited our Grand Canyon photos repeatedly, and we took a couple day trips to Sedona, the Wupatki National Monument, and the Painted Desert. Arizona has so much to offer, really.

The last national park of the trip was a little spontaneous. This past weekend we packed up in Flagstaff and really started to put some miles between us and the west coast. Along the way we stumbled upon the Petrified Forest National Park, which was super cool. The desert landscape used to be a rainforest, and the sandy ground is covered in the petrified remains of giant trees.

We spent half a day exploring the park before turning back to the road. Only a few more miles and a few days in the old Tallahassee stomping ground left before we trade in the hiking boots for flipflops again. Go Noles, Baby!

-Katie