I read in the newspaper that the day before 8 hikers had to be rescued from their hike on Camelback Mountain and three hikers had been lost in the Superstitions since July 6th.  My thoughts were even though there are plenty of places to hike within the Phoenix metro area, the summer is a very unforgiving time with temperatures in the triple digits for any outdoor activity so the old Boy Scout motto - “Be Prepared” is good to remember.

I had my Camelback pack filled with water, my head covered and quick dry shorts and tee shirt to absorb my sweat.  The trail I chose - trail #44 - departs from the North Mountain Picnic Ramada and is almost straight up for the first mile or so, quickly rising to a saddle with great views of downtown Phoenix and South Mountain.

Resting, I wondered how many people today would be on the border of heat exhaustion hiking in the Phoenix Mountain Parks.  I remembered the time I had done an early morning run in the summer in Phoenix and evidently had not hydrated enough.  Upon meeting some friends for lunch, they thought I had lost my mind.  I began repeating myself, asking them questions that they had just answered, and what I had asked seemed completely out of it.  Finally my wife figured what was wrong, I needed to rehydrate and she managed to get water and some electrolytes in me.

Today, I was determined to keep myself hydrated.  Each point where the trail leveled off for a bit, I stopped and took a drink.  The views as I climbed up and up kept getting more spectacular.  Soon I was seeing not only downtown and South Mountain, but Camelback Mountain, Four Peaks and the Estrella Mountains.  Houses and cars far below appeared as if toys.

Soon I topped out on this trail at the towers where some people were sitting enjoying the view.  Joining them, our talk ranged from how hot it was to how spectacular the views were.

Our discussion revolved around how lucky we are to have these great hiking trails and mountains right in the city.  Even though our summers are very hot and at times wearing on our good nature, we are thankful for the many months we have of fall, winter and spring where the temperatures are moderate to cool.  Hiking during the cooler times of year makes putting up with our summer heat almost bearable.

On the way down I opted to take the more heavily traveled paved trail.  I was amazed to see how many people were already on the trail.  Families, couples, people walking their dogs, runners, and yes people very much out of condition.  I congratulate them for being out on a Sunday morning in the heat and working on getting into condition.   My hellos were always met with a smile and a hello in return.

Reaching the parking area, I again was amazed to see it full.  Not an empty slot.  Makes me think we do have a segment of the population interested in keeping healthy and fit.  How about you?  Are you getting your exercise this summer?  Do you make sure you are hydrated in the summer heat?  These are all important questions for you.

I want you to send me your favorite summer hike, location, trail, and length.  What makes this your favorite?  What do you do to assure you are drinking enough water?  Thank you in advance for posting your answers to these questions and sharing them with your fellow readers.

If you are having trouble making a decision on where to go and what to do and what to see, I can help.  You will find having a “travel coach” to help in your planning will make your life easier.  Your personal “travel coach” is like having a personal guide to draw upon their expertise.  A “travel coach” has “been there and done that.”  They have years of experience in planning and helping people find the exact vacation experience that fits their personal desires and budget.

Simply provide your travel coach with a few of your wishes, desires, interests and budget and we will provide for you a list of trips that fit you and your family.

Having a panic attack trying to figure if you can take a trip this summer?  Do you have wants that outstrip your budget?  Are all the old haunts getting a bit boring?  Looking for something new and fresh that will energize you and your family?  Something that will bring you home at the end of the trip refreshed, rejuvenated and eager to begin again fresh?  Well we have the answer.  We will help you to find the exact fit for you.  You will be amazed at the number of options available to you that you have not thought about.

This is a special service we are offering this summer to help everyone find their exact fit for a vacation.  We have never made this offer before and wish to help those desiring to get away and yet are in a dilemma as to how and where to go.

This offer is limited to the first 20 people requesting my help. I will take them in order of when the requests is received.  Those needing special help will also be given that attention too.

Simply send to me your email address, name, phone number and number of people in your group.  In this email I will also need your likes and dislikes, some of the places you have visited before on your vacations and what you liked and disliked about them.  A budget figure if you have one will also be helpful.  Send this information to: wayne@traveltothewest.com

Once I have received 20 requests, I will post another note on this blog to let everyone know the offer is off the table for the moment.  I might re offer it in the future - so keep watching.

I have been seeing many ads for summer specials in the hotel industry. Seems like travelers will have many choices where to rest their heads at super special rates based on what I have seen in the last couple of weeks.

In today’s Sunday Phoenix paper, a whole section was devoted to special promotions being offered by the resorts and hotels in the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas.

The Arizona Biltmore from $119 per night? Or the Four Seasons from $149? These rates will definitely encourage people to brave the summer heat in Phoenix.

This summer will be a great time to travel west. It will be a great time to travel period. You will most likely find your dollar will go farther, there will be fewer people vying for hotel rooms, views at special viewpoints, seats in restaurants and the wait times at attractions will be shorter.

You might consider visiting some of the out of the way places on your bucket list. Perhaps one of the lesser visited National Parks, a scenic byway you have been reading about, that out of the way lake or stream you have only visited through pictures. You might try your luck at learning a new skill, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, fly fishing or spelunking.

Combining your vacation with volunteering this summer to give back while enjoying the outdoors might be a new twist for you. With the economy slow, all of the public agencies’ budgets have been reduced and they will be looking for volunteers. You might check out these options as you travel. Having done this over the years, I have found a whole new side of travel. The National Park Service has a whole web site devoted to finding just the right volunteering event for you.

If you google “volunteer” and the name of a state or an agency you will find many more volunteering opportunities.  So pick the one that fits in with your interests and time and you are onto a whole new adventure.  A side benefit of this is you will meet some great people with similar interests to you.

One of my favorite places to volunteer is at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.  The have a complete volunteer program as well as great cabins to rent while you are volunteering.

I can highly recommend this wonderful place to spend a day or two.  The setting is beautiful - nestled in a red rock canyon a few miles north of Kanab, Utah and only an hour and a half from Lake Powell and an hour from Zion National Park.  You can easily combine a stop at Best Friends while you are touring Bryce, Zion and North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Parks.  You might find some of the National Parks or National Forests in this area have volunteering programs as well.  What a great feeling to give back while you are vacationing.  I always come home completely refreshed and with a spring in my step.

Whatever your vacation plans this summer, give your home area a look for the second time.  What have you been overlooking during your past vacations.  Are there places in your local area that you have been saying you want to visit but never have?  Now might just be the time to investigate that back road, that hidden lake or waterfall.  You might be surprised and find a true gem right next to where you live.

Not too many years ago a trip was an event that took a lot of planning and preparation before embarking on the actual event.  Today people are trekking off to distant lands with much less planning and preparation.  What does this mean?  Are trips becoming more common place to travelers?  Is travel becoming a more spur of the moment thing?

I am not sure that any of these questions can be answered 100% in the affirmative.  I think travel is becoming more common place. Years ago a trip across the ocean in and ocean going vessel took weeks if not months of planning.  The trip took longer and the trip itself was an event, unlike a 6 hour air flight across the ocean today.

Visitors to the Western U.S. today are mostly last minute planners.  They find a special fare to a place they want to visit, they check the internet to see what is available to do and off they go.  Some even fly into a distant city with no pre planning as to where they are going, where they are staying and what they are doing.  They have a vague idea of what they want to do, however, nothing is cast in stone.  I see this free-form method of travel is becoming more the norm.

For people in the hospitality industry - hoteliers, rental car agencies, attractions, tour operators and restaurants - this type of traveler is welcomed, however, planning becomes more of a challenge.  How much staff do we need, how many rental cars does the agency need, how much food does the restaurant order, how many tour guides are needed?

Another new area of travel to come to my attention is the need of today’s traveler to have more of a stake in their activities.  Today’s traveler is more likely to want a hands-on experience.  Sitting on the sidelines is no longer part of travel.

Voluntourism is also becoming an important option for travelers.  They want to get involved.  They want to help.  They want to make a difference.

Experiences rather than just the sights, is fast becoming the watchword of the traveler.  Let me experience things I do not experience at home.  Soaring over a canyon on a zip line, riding the bucking raft down a raging river, going into a vineyard and picking grapes with the vintner, leading a llama down a trail to an ancient ruin, learning to play a native American flute, driving a jeep on a slickrock trail, learning to weave a Native American rug, or just taking a fly fishing trip with a world class fishing guide.

These are all the areas I see as the awakening of travel.  You might call it the renaissance of travel.  Whatever you call this new form of travel, it is exciting.  Our travelers today are more involved with every part of the trip.  Returning home they will feel they really experienced every aspect of their destination.  It will be an in depth part of their life.  So let the experiences begin, soar with the eagles, dive with the sharks, zip across a forest canopy with the monkeys and sleep the restful sleep of a contented traveler.

I can remember getting of an airplane at a location and thinking where should I go first?  What should I see and do?  What’s the best thing to see and do at this location?  How may I maximize the time I have here.

Well I have found the perfect place that answers all of my questions.  This place has the knowledge of experts from many fields that have been there - - done that.  They have walked in the footsteps of the explorers in the area.  They have experienced the adventures the area is known for.  They have searched out the best of the best and will be your personal travel expert on your next trip.

Forty years ago I asked the same questions.  I was frustrated when visiting a new location by having to do hours and hours of research before I departed from my home to make sure I did not miss anything in the area to which I was traveling.  So for the last forty years, I have been cataloging all of my adventures into a file that I am now willing to share with my fellow travelers.  I have attracted to me people as dedicated to immersing themselves in the area as I am dedicated.  I have found many places off the beaten path that are gems and I now want to share them with you. I have experienced the adventures personally and am anxious to share them with you.

I remember one time I got off the plane in Rapid City, South Dakota, knowing no one in the area, not knowing much about this area except that Rapid City sits at the base of the Black Hills and the Black Hills are home to Mount Rushmore National Park.  My first few hours of bumbling around in Rapid City trying to figure out what I should do first, where I should go, where should I stay. Many other questions were flying around in my head.  I thought to myself, I wonder if there is a local I might talk to to help me figure out answers to my questions.  A personal Concierge was what I was looking for.  Not knowing were to go or where to look for this type person, I went to the local visitors bureau.  This was a bit of a help, however, they had so much information, upon departing the bureau, I was still in a quandary.

I’m sure you have been in my exact shoes with this experience.  Loving travel and traveling all over the western U.S. in the last forty years, I have learned to refine my search of an area before I climb on the plane.   Today I have a huge personal database of information about most areas in the West.  Now when I travel, I refine my search even more to find new places, new things, new experiences and of course new people to meet and bring into my information base.

Here is my gift to you, I am going to share my huge database of travel information with all you travelers to the West through my new web site: http://www.experientialjourneys.com

This new web site is dedicated to give you, dear traveler, a special place to go to get a hands-on experience and a immersion into the area you wish to experience.  This is not just another sightseeing tour.  This is not another tour operator trying to fill a coach.  This is a true once in a lifetime experience designed only for you.  If you are ready to step away from the crowd and try a one of a kind adventure, this is for you.  Check us out, make me preform miracles for you; you will have something no one else will have, a true experience, designed especially for you!  Are you ready for the adventure?

The answer is unequivocally ARIZONA!

People from all over the world travel to visit the Grand Canyon.  The two closest major gateway cities to the Grand Canyon are Phoenix and Las Vegas.  Both are also major tourist hubs with international flights bringing tourists from all over.  Both cities advertise they are the gateway to the Grand Canyon.  Over the 20 plus years I have watched these two cities duke it out to attract foreign visitors, I have seen Las Vegas grow in popularity.

It seems to me Las Vegas has built its entertainment industry by building one monster hotel and casino after another; they also continue to grow the amount of advertising money they spend on their attractions, one of which is the Grand Canyon.

Barry Aarons, lobbyist for the Arizona Tourism Alliance, said there’s more than just pride involved in having it known world wide that Arizona is the Grand Canyon State.  He cited a survey done more than a decade ago of foreign visitors to the Grand Canyon.

“Seventy-one percent think the Grand Canyon is in Las Vegas,’ he said.

That, he said, is not surprising.

He said many of the tours of the canyon, both by air and bus, originate in Las Vegas. And he said, that may lead foreign visitors to believe that the canyon is simply an extension of the city on its far outskirts.

This has led to a movement to officially declare Arizona the Grand Canyon State with Arizona State lawmakers taking the first steps Tuesday to officially declaring Arizona “The Grand Canyon State” - - quick, before Nevada claims it!

The push for HB 2447 follows the discovery by Marshall Trimble, the state historian, that the phrase that appears on license plates, tourist brochures and even signs welcoming visitors to Arizona actually has no official status. And Trimble said he discovered that only because a school girl asked him about it.

“So I made a promise to this girl that I would see what I could do,’ Trimble told members of the House Government Committee. He convinced Rep. Sam Crump, R-Anthem, to sponsor the required legislation.

“With our centennial coming up, it would be a nice gift to the people of Arizona,’ Trimble said. Arizona became a state on Feb. 14, 1912″.

Let’s all give Marshall Trimble a hand in promoting this through the Arizona legislature by writing letters to the editor, commenting on this blog and any others talking about this bill and talking it up to all we meet.  Let’s give our children and our children’s children the legacy that Arizona is truly the Grand Canyon State.

To add legitimacy to this claim, all 277 miles of the Grand Canyon National Park are in the state of Arizona, so what better way to claim it than by making it official?

My thoughts are that people want a good laugh, people want to see if some of the questions were their questions, they want to see if they may have asked the same thing, they want to see if they are smarter than the other visitors, or some other reason.  If you have any suggestions as to why this blog has become so popular, please comment below I would appreciate your input.

I decided to add a few more of the latest fun questions I have been asked since I wrote the May post.  Here’s a few of the many that I have accumulated.

“Will my cell phone work in the desert?  Is their internet service on the Indian Reservation? Will I see a Rattlesnake on my desert hike? (This is funny since snakes hibernate in the winter and the question is always asked in the winter).  “When do the lights go on in the Grand Canyon?”  “How long did it take to dig the Grand Canyon”.  Will I have cell service in the Canyon? When the clouds fill the Canyon so it is not visible, “how do I know there is a Canyon out there?”  John Hance, the father of great Grand Canyon stories spins the yarn about how when the Canyon fills in with clouds, he and his trusty horse ride the clouds from the South Rim to the North Rim and back.  Or the one about how he dug the Grand Canyon and when asked where he put all of the dirt - he pointed to the South at the San Francisco Peaks saying there’s where he put the dirt. He had many more wonderful stories he used to share with Canyon visitors and I would imagine many great and funny questions from his visitors were answered with equal craziness.

Another of my favorites is a visitor to Monument Valley asked me one day, who built the spires in the Monument Valley? And of course the Anasazi Cliff Dwellings scattered all over the southwest are rife for many fun questions too-such as “how did they get up into the caves? Another one from a visitor from the Midwest “why didn’t they live in the towns we came through?

My all time favorite is the one from the visitor from the east coast - when does the Grand Canyon fill with water?

I will keep my notebook handy and keep adding to this list for your reading pleasure.  Thank you for reading and commenting, I appreciate you!

If you don’t, each year your dream will fade further and further from your reality.  Why?  Because it becomes easier and easier to put off the dreams for something else that comes between you and that dream.  Take your life in your hands and become, do and live today - in the present - what you only have dreamed before.

This decade will be the decade that people wake up to live to their whole potential, live their vision, their passion.  If your passion is to travel and especially to travel to a particular place or to do a particular thing, then this year put your vision out there to the universe.  See your vision in vivid color video with you in the scene doing exactly what you have dreamed of doing.  Living the dream to the max. Laughing, smiling, living your dream, talking to the ones you love, smell the fragrance of your loved ones hair as you embrace, tasting the great food and drink, enjoying the warm breeze blowing through your hair.

The travel industry is gearing up to make these dreams a reality.  Many companies realize the boomers are interested in traveling quite differently than their predecessors.  The boomers want to have an experience when they travel.  They want to not only visit a winery and do a wine tasting, they want to go out into the vineyard and actually learn about the growing of the grape.  They want to not only tour a historic location, but they want to have an experience of living in that place at the time it was making history.

They want to not only see a Broadway Play, they want to have a behind the scenes tour and meet some of the cast.  They are interested in getting their hands on a shovel and doing some trail maintenance at a National Park, or walking a dog at an animal sanctuary, or going behind the scenes at a Native American village to learn about the local customs and traditions, or learn to fly fish in a remote wilderness river with a top guide.

These are the dreams and visions of what the travel industry will be in this decade.  Are you up for it?  Do you want to be part of this exciting revolution in travel?  If so, lets get those juices going and begin thinking out of the box.  How can we individually and collectively make these dreams a reality.  The wave has begun.  I am seeing travel companies all across America beginning to offer these new type venues.

I also see individual companies offering to design a special experiential trip that is a one-of-a-kind customized for the individual.  These special trips will be the things that dreams are made of.  The people enjoying this special treatment will have a trip no one else has ever had and most likely no one will ever have in the future.  They will have bragging rights for the rest of their lives about the special experience they alone had.

I get excited just talking about the possibilities.  The sky is the limit - - nothing is impossible.  Creativity will be the watchword and all the stops will be pulled out for these special people who have the foresight to live their dream.

Just think, you will have a professional at your fingertips giving you helpful tips on where to go, what to see and what to do.  It will be like having your own personal travel concierge.

First I would like to assure you I will be giving you updates on the latest adventure travel news in the West.  I will share with you places many people have never heard of let alone visited.  My blog will provide an unending list of things for you to add to your list of “must see and must do.”  So go ahead - - sign up now and be in the know!

Here’s some little know facts you will learn during this year:

Where to see a Hopi Kachina dance

Where to find a spot on the rim of the Grand Canyon where you may watch sunset and be the only person within miles

Where to hike to the top of a 14,000 foot peak in the west without any technical climbing

Where to fish for very large trout

When and where to hike the various National Parks and have the trails to yourself

Where to find gourmet restaurants in many out of the way places

When to reserve your hotel for the best rates and the best rooms

Where to find a secluded waterfall in the Grand Canyon

When and where to see bull elk fighting

How to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner at the bottom of the Grand Canyon

How to find water on a hike

How to get the best hotel rates in high season

Live like royalty on a trek into the wild

How to survive a 3-day backpack after the ravens have raided your food supply

Where to fly into to maximize your time in a particular area

Which hotels are bike friendly

Which hotels are family friendly

Which tour companies have special programs for individual travelers

Where to find voluntourism things to do

Where to find someone to put together a special, exclusive adventure in the West

These are just a few of the many interesting articles I have planned for this year.  Are you in?  Do you want to be in the know?  Will you stick with me and send me your burning travel questions?  If you want to be in the know and up on the latest - - go to the right had side of this blog and fill in your email address.  I will do the rest.  My wish for you is a year of exciting adventures in the West and I am your personal travel guide.  Lets have fun this year and live to the Max!

December finds the Canyon shrouded in snow clouds many days and the day after a storm, there usually follows a crisp clear day with lingering clouds in the Canyon.  The air is cold, crisp and very clear and immediately after a storm there is little wind, so hiking along the rim or into the Canyon makes for a very enjoyable experience.  There is no better time to get spectacular photos.

After a day of hiking and exploring the wonders the snow has brought, an evening in one of the Canyon Lodges sitting by a crackling fire in the fireplace, enjoying a hot cider or toddy and recounting our days delights is a perfect cap for the day.

The holidays bring a whole added benefit to this experience, the sights and sounds of the lights and singing of Christmas.  The lodges are decorated with the lights and trees of Christmas and the sounds of Christmas are heard all around.  The festive wishing each other a Merry Christmas is especially wonderful when said on the rim of the Canyon.  I particularly enjoy visiting the second or third week of December, just before Christmas.  This is just before the Christmas crowds arrive and I usually have the hiking trails, lodges and restaurants mostly to myself.  The lodges and restaurants are less crowded, but the holiday decorations and mood have already arrived.  If you want to visit during the week of Christmas, you will want to reserve your lodge rooms about a year in advance as the few days just before Christmas until just after the New Year are very busy.

For those of us that love to cross country ski, this is also a great time of year to enjoy a visit to the Canyon and get in some great winter skiing through the forest along the rim.  The Park Service has dedicated cross country ski trails that travel through the forest and at times alongside the rim of the Canyon.  What a great way to experience the Canyon and get in some exercise as well.  There is nothing like skiing through a forest of trees with no one else around and as you come to an opening in the forest the Canyon looms in front of you.  Wow! There is no better cross country skiing anywhere.  You might scare up a herd of elk as you travel through the forest too.

So how about next year beginning a new holiday tradition? How about taking the family to a Grand Canyon old fashion Christmas?  Stay at the El Tovar, enjoy the wintery snow, the grandeur of the Canyon, the elegance of dining in the El Tovar for Christmas dinner and taking a moonlight walk in the snow along the rim of the Canyon.  What better way to celebrate Christmas with those you love in a very special place?