OffBeat Pathfinder Basecamp

Grew up near Mystic—my dad was a boat mechanic, so I spent summers smelling like grease and salt. Still remember the sound of rigging in the wind. Mystic’s changed but the river still feels the same.

I finally checked Saguaro National Park off my bucket list, and if you think it’s “just cactus,” you’ve clearly never watched the sunrise over a forest of 40-foot giants. I started my morning on the east side, hiking the Cactus Forest Loop with the prickly shadows stretching across the desert—truly ...