L iquid gold sunlight splashed over the desert not long after dawn. Above me, the baby-blue canopy of sky was brushed with the faintest wisps of cloud, dissolving into the warming air.
In the distance, craggy silhouettes of mountains looked like the edges of a torn map, their outline blurred by the morning haze — a silent promise of the adventure that can be found in Arizona.
I was jet-lagged , that peculiar blend of exhaustion and exhilaration, where time feels unmoored. My body protested this trek through the Sonoran Desert, starting from a trailhead 25 miles outside of the city of Scottsdale , a winding walk along sunbaked paths, past creosote bushes and the occasional darting lizard.
But at the same time, a quiet energy captivated me. I was absorbed into stories around the saguaro cactus, native to and a symbol of the Sonoran its blossom is the state flower of Arizona. They live long — some can reach to years — and are woven into local Native American myths: that they embody the spirit of ancestors, that a lost boy became the first saguaro. In a surprise to myself, I was actually thankful to have woken at 5. A friend familiar with my pseudo-healthy life — occasional gym visits between late-night bars and long hours working — suggested this invigorating Arizonan city.
I was told of delicious dining and potent cocktails balanced by getting active outdoors, all at the end of a direct flight from London. Actors Clark Gable and John Wayne were visitors. Natalie Wood married Robert Wagner there. Many of the stars checked into Hotel Valley Ho , which captured the essence of mid-century glamour, embracing a sleek, minimal aesthetic at a time when grand and ornate was order of the day.
