Recommendations for December in Arizona

[Rick Russell]

Next week my wife and I will be in Sedona, AZ and environs for a few days of hiking, exploration and photography. We will arrive in Sedona on Monday night and will probably return home to Southern California on Saturday morning. I have checked the weather and it is cool (to a Southern Californian) and sunny (at times) to cloudy. I have purchased a number of books (Photographing the Southwest, Vol. 2, Arizona, by Laurent Martres; Photographer's Guide to the Grand Canyon & Northern Arizona, by Joseph Lange; and 2 books by John Annerino, the Photographers Guides to the Grand Canyon and Canyon Country). I guess I'm now seeking real world advice.

I'm planning on taking my 4x5 and my 6x17 back. I'm taking slide, black and white and color negative film. Sedona area? Grand Canyon? Antelope Canyon? I'm willing to travel while there, but do not have 4 wheel drive. If shooting a sunrise means getting up and on the road at 4:00 a.m., I'm prepared to do so. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Rick Russell

[Vaughn]

Down by Tuscon there is Saguarreo National Monument and some missions -- drop by the university and its Center of Photography to check out real prints by photographers of your choice. It will be relatively warm down there during the day, nippy in the evening to downright cold at night. I photographed a lunar eclispe from Signal Hill in the Monument in December -- shorts during the day then jumping around trying to keep warm once the sun set and the moon was rising!

Expect sub-freezing weather on the Grand Canyon Rim (7000')...I have experiences highs in the 20's during the day in December! With some luck you might catch a snowstorm! Flagstaff can also be quite chilly!

Have fun!

Vaughn

[John Kasaian]

...Or head in the other direction to Tombstone (tourist trap) Bisbee (Carmel in the desert) and Nogales (for Oso Negro Gin---a dutch type gin made in mexico, perfect for gin and tonics and tom collins, aka the official feul of Ft. Huachuca...Ole'!)

[Donald Miller]

Depends on what you are wanting to photograph. Sedona is very nice, albeit photographed a lot. In that area is Oak Creek Canyon and the old mining town of Jerome.

Further down the hill toward Phoenix is Bumble Bee (not much there any longer), Cleeter, and Crown King. All of these can be reached without 4WD.

In the east valley (Phoenix), you can find the Apache Trail leading north and east past Superstition Mtn into the mountains. A beautiful drive and navigable without 4WD.

All of these will not eat up an inordinant amount of time in travel.