The end of summer is almost here.
You can feel it when you walk outside in the morning. It may still be over 100 degrees in the afternoon, but's not half-bad before and after.
While most of us might be celebrating the end of the scorching season in Arizona, this longtime Arizona travel writer has a bit of a counterintuitive take.
Roger Naylor is a little sad to see summer go, and joined The Show to talk more about it.
Full conversation
ROGER NAYLOR: The problem that I have with the end of summer is that it takes all the daylight with it, especially September, we lose up to an hour of daylight. Just through the month of September, we lose more daylight. So all of a sudden it's like we're not just ending summer, we're hurtling towards winter.
You know, I like those long, languid days. I like days where I'm up early and there's the, you know, I watch the sunrise and I'm hiking and I run errands and I get my work done and I at the computer and I do all this stuff. You know, after dinner, hey, it's still daylight. I can still sit down on my porch and enjoy. And you know, I like that.
So I miss that. But, you know, I understand in the Valley, summer's like that unwelcome guest that just sits around and sits around. Everybody's gone. You run out of things to talk about. You're dropping hints about how it's time to put up the Halloween decorations, and summer just sits there rattling ice cubes in an empty glass, hoping that you'll make one more pitcher of lemonade, and then finally ambles out the door. And by that time you got to reach for a jacket because, yeah, it's October. It's, you know, it goes fast.
LAUREN GILGER: That was my favorite analogy for an Arizona summer I've ever heard. OK, so tell us, Roger, what have you been doing this summer? You know, obviously probably not hiking in the Valley, but, you know, you always find the places you can go out in Arizona throughout the summer.
NAYLOR: I do. I've spent a lot of time on Route 66 working on a project because the Route 66 centennial is coming up. But I did some other fun. You know, I was kayaking to Emerald Cave. That was really fun on the Colorado River there. And I actually, actually was down south doing some hiking in the heat.
GILGER: Yeah.
NAYLOR: I'm a desert rat, so I don't mind that. But I was up on the Navajo Nation quite a bit and up in Page and around there doing some hiking and just having a great time.
GILGER: Yeah, finding the places to be out.
NAYLOR: When you've got those long days again, you can do some traveling.
GILGER: OK, but you actually say that this time of year, this kind of in between season, we're not quite to fall leaves yet in certain parts of the state. We're still hot here in the Valley. This is, you say, your favorite time to travel.
NAYLOR: Well, I think it's the best time to travel. I'm a spring, summer man. But I honestly think that from middle of September, middle of October, those four weeks, the best time to travel Arizona, because, and here's my reason, no place is off limits.
Sure, you know, it's still very mild in the high country. In the mountains, it's still very comfortable. Deserts are cooling off, kids are back in school. Summer crowds are gone. But the snowbirds aren't here yet. Quieter. So you can kind of go wherever you want. There's no place that's off limits like in some of the other seasons. It's too hot here. There's still snow there. Or this road is closed. And, you know, whatever it's. Right now, the whole state is open.
Other than, sadly, the North Rim closed because of fire.
GILGER: Right.
NAYLOR: You can kind of plan, you know, whatever kind of trip you want. For example, I think Monument Valley right now. Best time to go, Best time to go.
GILGER: Interesting, OK.
NAYLOR: Because you don't get the spring winds. The weather is just ideal again. All the summer crowds are gone. Take one of the jeep tours or hiking tours or horseback rides. Learn more about Diné culture and get to experience some of the backcountry, that spectacular place. This is also my favorite time to visit Arizona's west coast, Lake Havasu City.
GILGER: West coast in quotes there.
NAYLOR: Parker, right there. Because I always like that little extension of summer. And this is kind of summer light. ‘Cause it's still very nice and warm. But it's not brutal. It's, you know, in the 80s, which is what you want when you're on the water, sitting on the sandy beach and stuff.
GILGER: All right, Best time to hit the road. Let me ask you about the North Rim right now, since you mentioned it. I mean, this has been a tough time for national parks in general with massive budget cuts, massive personnel cuts. And then we had this massive and devastating fire on the North Rim that took the lodge, the historic lodge up there.
What's the state of the national park system right now from your point of view in Arizona?
NAYLOR: Well, they're really struggling. They're operating on shoestrings. They're really kind of patched together. They've cut back hours. Some of them cut back days where the visitor centers are open. They've had to cut back services. You know, the Grand Canyon, fortunately, you know, it's huge. And it will stay, will continue in operation.
I really worry about some of the smaller parks that, you know, where everybody lives on site or, you know, they're out in the middle of nowhere. You know, Pipe Spring or Fort Bowie or some of those that are way out, out there.
And I encourage everybody get out and support them. See them when you can buy a national park pass. You know, they really need the help. I've talked to several of the park managers and they all say the same thing.
You know, they're all very dedicated and working very hard, but they're having to do it with fewer and fewer people, which impacts visitors' experience. You know, the lines will be longer, the bathrooms may not get cleaned as often. People may not be out there on the trail to greet you and stuff.
So, you know, show some patience, be kind, just get out and enjoy an experience, you know, because the thought that we might lose some of these really special places is just terrifying to me.
GILGER: Yeah. What do they mean to you, and what do you think they mean to the country?
NAYLOR: This is part of our identity, you know, not only as a nation, but especially in Arizona. You know, we are defined by wide open spaces. And the fact that that would be taken away is just monstrous. We are the West. We are the core … and we always have been. We're the Grand Canyon state, you know, but you look around at all these parks that add to that, that are our scenic wonders, our cultural treasures.
As I wrote in my book “Arizona National Parks and Monuments,” we have 34 national park units in this state. And they tell so many layers of our history. They tell those stories, they protect those sites, they preserve our watersheds. They give us this room to move, to go camping and to experience this.
And, you know, on a grand scale, because think what it means, even just locally, wherever you live, you know how much it means having just a local park, a nearby park where you can get out and breathe in. And Phoenix is blessed to have all these Maricopa County parks, all the Phoenix Preserve mountains, all these, you know, instantly access. Even though it's a big urban area, you can still get out and have miles and miles of trails or open country.
So having that on your doorstep is a wonder. And then to keep it all around us is just that. That's who we are. We need these quiet places. Wilderness still has value. Dark, starry skies still mean something to us, or they certainly should. And if they don't, then, you know, I don't know where we are as a country or as a people.
