From NY to AZ in under a week
Relocated for the summer to Tucson, AZ looking for work. A nice drive down, and greater weather when I arrived.

Bear Canyon
OK, it's not really a mountain, but I did want to do some hiking in the desert, and the waterfalls at the end looked pretty scenic from the photos online. If I went after a rainstorm they woulda been flowing, but regardless, it was a nice stroll through the desert.

Swift Trail
I don't know why they call this a "trail" when it's clearly a road (and traveled enough to be a highway), but there's no way I'd ever be able to climb from 3000ft at the base of the road to the 10700-foot summit of Graham Mountain. The road is 65 miles long, tons of campsites, water-areas, offroading, overviews, etc. An increidbly scenic area that reminded me of the Adirondacks while I was in Arizona.

Montana Mountain
Not wanting to give up after the Swift Trail, and not quite ready for more hiking in the desert just yet, I took the car up Montant Mountain via a forest service road (Grade 2.5, Jeeps or better reccomended). Had a few areas where it was one way/no turning back that scared me, should I encounter something too steep for the Saturn [or worse, damage the car and it can't get me out]. But since I'm posting this, it shows I lived, and the car is just as good as it was when I left.

Tonto Natural Bridge
So I went here years ago but we never got to finish the trail. So now that I'm in the state, figured I'd finish it after all these years. It's practically an outdoor cave so large you can fly a plane through. Nice trail, nice park, nice weather. Couldn't ask for more.

Montazuma Castle
After seeing this on numerous sites symbolizing Arizona, I added it to my trip plan. Thank god it was so close to the Tonto Natural Bridge, it wasn't that worthwhile. It's practically a 1/6th mile sidewalk that goes in a loop past the castle, and the dried up river bed.

Pikes Peak
The Adirondacks are nice, but since I was only an hour away from the highest point in the continental US (next up is Mt McKinley in Alaska), I wasn't going to squander the opportunity. The trail up was too steep for me, despite my experiences in the ADK's. No matter, I drove to the top and left 45min... as a storm rolled in. If I had hiked, I would have climbed into a cloud.

Rampart Range Road
A beautiful scenic road I found online across the valley from Pikes Peak. It's about 30 miles long, has tons of overlooks for gazing at Pikes Peak, plus offers things like reservoirs, shooting ranges, and roads with 1000ft dropoffs and no guardrails (my favorite).