It's hot, it's desert, it's Arizona!

In January, when I arrived in Alaska, I was posting “It's cold, it's white, it's Fairbanks!”. Four months later, it's another story...

In Arizona, temperature easily going beyond 100°F (37°C). The problem is to find shade to benefit from this temperature, otherwise it goes easily up to 130°F (55°C).

Arizona, which name is considered to come from the Spanish zona arida, is pretty desert. The humidity rate is 4%. Unbelievable for a European like me! You don't need any toaster, just leave you bread in the sun a couple of minutes. Same goes with eggs, I guess. All day long, you want to drink (water). And wildfires are all over the place. At the beginning, it's a bit scary to evolve in such an hostile environment.

As a result, vegetation is very dry. There is no grass (except on golf course!), no tree (except along few rivers), but cactus, bush, and rock. Rivers are dry and only susceptible to flow when there is a flash-flood. Otherwise, it is paradise for rabbits, snakes, lizards, bats. For once, no squirrels. I guess there understood pretty quickly they couldn't do the same on cactus than on regular trees.

To hike, you need to wake up early. I did so in Grand Canyon. I did it again in Prescott with Paul and Nina who showed me around and then kindly drove me to Tucson. In Tucson, François-Xavier (my host) and me also woke up at 4 to go hiking with Cécile and Ben. And beauty of Mother Nature is at the end of the trail.

It's hot, it's desert, it's dry, it's stiffing, but it's beautiful. As in Alaska, you're daily happy to survive in these extreme conditions. And yesterday, I met people who run the canal providing Tucson with water. A post on that very soon. And Arizona still has wonders to show me!...