Leaving Sedona

An early start today, in order to drive over to the White Mountains on the other side of Arizona and have enough time to stop and start over and over again and take photos to my hearts content - the first few photos were taken just a few miles out of Sedona, as the colour of the rocks start to change - today it's cooler (and colder by the minute as I leave Sedona and as you can see, clouds in the skies - though still breathtakingly beautiful) - the next hotel is at 8,500 ft. elevation and I know for a fact already that it is perishingly cold up there, so this is time to enjoy the last few rays of sunshine and warmth for a few days.

As we climb upwards, the landscape and colours change dramatically... the red fades and a khaki/sand colour predominates.

The sun filters over the mountain tops and gives a little warmth to the chilly valleys; I've never seen this landscape in the summer, I can only imagine how beautiful it must be.

Cliimbing up through the mountains, these silver coloured trees dominate along the sides of the roads.

Then, we start to see (and feel!) snow... I'm sure it won't be the last - when I was here last time I went up the state as far as the Grand Canyon (actually I travelled further than that) and it was knee deep in snow.

This pic is only about 17 miles outside of Sedona, and I can't believe the difference in temperature and the landscape.