Canyon Ranch in Arizona

After presenting my speech in Vancouver, I had the inviting pleasure of spending a couple of days at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, AZ.  If you’re regular viewers of my television show, you might remember when Dr. Richard Carmona, former United States Surgeon General and now the Vice Chairman of Canyon Ranch, was recently a guest.  On that episode, everyone in the audience was given 3 days at Canyon Ranch! – our attempt to make this, their healthiest year ever.  For this visit, I was joined by Dr. Brent Ridge, who is Vice President of Healthy Living at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

The stately beauty of the preserve with its army of ancient saguaro cactus - a really regal sight

Lovely Mel and Enid Zuckerman are the founders of Canyon Ranch and it has been their life-mission to help people become healthier.  Canyon Ranch may be a world-famous spa, but Mel and Enid think of it as a health resort.  They believe that the medical components of the Ranch are as important, if not more so, than the luxurious spa services.  What I find remarkable is that Mel and Enid have enlisted over 300 world-renowned health professionals who are experts of traditional, alternative, and complementary disciplines.  If you are so inclined, you can learn about better lifestyle, nutrition, fitness, preventative care, and spiritual vitality under their combined guidance. What a fantastic idea!

One of the things that was offered, and most fascinated me, was the Biophysical 250 – the most advanced health assessment available anywhere!  It’s a blood test that measures more than 250 different biomarkers with a single blood draw.  This test includes biomarkers from 12 medical specialties including cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as immune, hormonal, gastrointestinal, and a number of other conditions.  I look forward to receiving my results in a couple of weeks.

Of course I was pampered unbelievably well, exercised vigorously, and ate the delicious and healthy cuisine that Canyon Ranch is famous for.  And I especially enjoyed the daily fitness hikes out into the desert each day.  There was so much beauty to capture and I left Arizona feeling so revitalized!

please visit www.CanyonRanch.com for for information and more photos!

The following photos were taken using my fabulous Canon EOS-1D and my smaller Canon G9.
 

This is a beautiful cholla plant - a lovely lavender.

The prickly pear that grows here has very large leaves - this is an edible cactus and both the leaves and fruits are used.

This is one of the early blooms in the Sonoran Desert - the yellow primrose.

This is our guide, my assistant Liesl, and our own Dr. Brent Ridge on our first morning's hike.

The “group” hiking through part of the federal park - a wonderful preserve of saguaro cactus.

A mature saguaro - many arms, a few battle "scars" but still healthy and probably over 100 years old!

A baby saguaro cuddling in the safety of a “nursemaid” tree - a palo verde - this cactus is probably over sixty years old, and at maturity will have outlived its “nurse”.

Ocatillo - not a cactus, but a shrub - it turns green in early spring and its leaves are soft in great contrast  to its stiff upright branches.

A fishhook barrel cactus - legend has it that the “hooks” really were used for fishing - I found two loose ones - I will try them and let you know if they work.

a good closeup view of those very strong hooks

A palo verde with its yellowish green bark and the first hint of spring leaves is the state tree of Arizona.

a mutant double headed saguaro

a cactus called a hedgehog - beware of the prickles

another beautiful early spring flower

This is one of the most beautiful, pristine, protected specimens of the stately saguaro.

When an arm freezes it may droop like these.  This is a sign of decline as are the numerous dark holes in the cactus flesh - wounds made by birds and other creatures of the desert - such decline actually takes years.

The trunk of a saguaro is as hard as petrified wood - that anything could possibly penetrate the surface is surprising, but inevitable.

                

Comments

[gabrielle]

Martha,
The desert is so beautiful in spring, thanks for sharing all those lovely cactus. I can't wait for my trip to Joshua Tree in April.
Gabrielle

[Jennifer]

Martha - saw you on Letterman last night. You were great!

[Emma Figueroa]

Martha Tucson is my home but grew-up in NYC.Glad you had a great time at the Ranch.Our winters can be great.

Thanks for posting the pictures.

[Jan]

I am relatively certain that this will not be the only email you receive regarding this subject, but just in case, I wanted to give you some information. Since your blog is about Arizona, thought this information might come in handy. I saw you on Letterman last night (you were great!) and you made reference to the "pecaries" we have here in the desert. You couldn't recall their proper name, but you said "it starts with an "H"." Someone from the audience called out "havelina". Actually, the name is spelled "javelina", but is pronounced as "havelina". Just wanted to let you know, I know what a perfectionist you are, I watch your show all the time! So keep up the good work and thank you for all the terrific information you share on your program.

All my best, Jan West
Tucson, AZ

[Liberty Post Editor]

These are amazing. I love cactus in my clay pots. Too bad these wouldn't grow outside in Canada. The air looks so fresh.

[Patia]

Fascinating pictures and captions. Thank you.

[Jane Phelman]

What fun! I've always wanted to go to Canyon Ranch. Plus you got to go with Dr. Ridge. I've been following his Body and Soul Challenge advice since the New Year and have lost 19 pounds! I probably would have gained at least a few of those back if I'd been at Canyon Ranch with their great food, though. Thank you for sharing.

Sincerely,
Jane Phelman

[Jan Erickson]

Hi Martha, As usual, another informative, beautiful, fantastic blog! Your photos are absolutely gorgeous! What a great contrast to yesterday's photos of Washington state's fantastic mountains. All of your photos look like picture post cards and I can't stop looking at all of them. It will be interesting to hear about the results of your blood tests. I also saw you on Letterman and you were great! Your "Today" show appearance this morning was great, also! Thanks again for sharing. Jan

[jessi nagy]

i love canyon ranch! so beautiful this time of year!
you look fabulous!
refreshed!
oxoxo,
jessi

[JBrennan]

Martha:

Thanks for another fantastic, informative account of your travels!

It seems you had a relaxing, restorative stay an the ranch.

[Andrew Ritchie]

From snow-capped mountains to arid deserts covered in cacti. It's amazing how diverse our continent is! North America is truly wondrous. The explorers knew it all along, I bet!

-Andrew

[Trish]

I watched and wished I had been on the show the day everyone was given a 3-day pass to Canyon Ranch! What a treat it must be to spend a few days there!

Your pictures are fantastic as usual and I am intrigued with the Biophysical 250 which I did not know about until today. This is definitely the place to get informed! Trish

P.S. I missed you on Letterman last night because I didn't know you were going to be a guest.

[Adrienne]

I am so excited you traveled to Canyon Ranch. I am actually going to the Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires this weekend as part of a spa class for the hotel school at Cornell. I am curious if you were able to experience any of the aquatherapy treatments at Tucson, such as watsu, as that is the focus of my visit.

[Paula D]

As a Tucsonan, I.m so glad you highlighted Canyon Ranch on your Blog! The Zuckerman's are responsive to our community and help promote a healthy lifestyle for all of us.
We love our sonoran desert enviroment with it's bluest skies and temperate winter. The natural vegetation is so unique and the saguaro cacti would make an enormous forest of ancients trees if they were trees.
Come back and visit, you've just seen a small part of what Tucson has to offer!
Luv ya Paula (POODLE)

[adamsme]

Martha,
I love the desert! When I moved there in the early 1970's I missed my Midwest geography, but by the time I left there 13 years later, I ahd fallen in love with the desert. One of my favorite desert plants is the ocotillo. In addition to the small green leaves that appear in the rainy season, the plant gets a bright red flower on the tips of the long branches. They always reminded me of long red painted fingernails!

Mary Ellen Adams

[sandra Vaughan]

1. I love your pics, but then from TX, I love native plants of the SW.

2. We need you to start your own channel...DIY and Home & Garden are fazing out all our craft show. We have written/blogged and they are getting angry instead of having a light bulb moment and starting their 5th channel with all our favorites and seeing what they can do to encourage more.

Look at how many people knit, crochet, quilt, cross stitch, embrodery, sew, watch your show on cable as well as nbc, paint (oil, acrylic, water), and more. PLEASE HELP US KEEP OUT CRAFTS ON TV and if you don't want to start a channel, add your more pursasive voice to ours.

Thank you for reading!

[Emily]

Gosh-
Cold to hot! How do you do it all?
I admire your energy. I love your blog!You can check mine out if you like- http://soysurfer10.blogspot.com/
I started mine so my Uncle who is going through chemo and is stuck at home or in the hospital can have something to entertain him.

[Kathy]

Hi, Martha,
Thanks for your informative post. Your photographs are beautiful.
I especially enjoyed the segment on your show today about orchids. In the past I have seen similar beauties at Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota.
Kathy

[Linda Gail]

Martha:)
What pictures! So beautiful and oh so peaceful looking. I wish I could have been with you. I enjoy growing cactus in my pots and I have a huge prickly pear in my backyard. My daughter-in-law got 1 leaf from a neighbor about 4 years ago and ask me where she could put it. I told her to just dig down far enough so the leaf could stand up and let it go from there. Well go it did. It is very large and my husband put one of our bird feeders in the middle of it to keep the squirrels away. IT WORKED! The cactus is beautiful when it blooms and has the red flowers and plump red fruit.
Linda Gail

[carillon]

Hi, Martha,
Glad you got back to Arizona in March, when it's warmer than when you were here for SuperBowl...I hope you also got to see some really spectacular wild flowers...you may have been a week too early, but we are predicted to have a bumper crop this year - the first time in several years - due to the good rain we had in December and January. Thanks for showing off the great state of Arizona! I moved here in 1983, after living just about all my life in Minnesota, and I really love it here!
Carillon in Phoenix

[Robb]

Glad you enjoyed Tucson. I moved here from Connecticut and love calling Tucson home. Please come again and enjoy our amazing winters.

[KellySchwark.com]

I love the palette that the desert landscapes offer. I know that so many people think of them as presenting only dry and unwelcoming colors, but as you so kindly have shown in your photos, that is not so!

I just love the soft and subtle hues! They are a perfect color scheme for so many things!

Thanks from one artistic mind to another!
Kelly
http://kellyschwark.com

[Kathy H.]

I love your blog and all you share with us. It's done so well and we can travel the country from our computor screens. I enjoyed you on Letterman, you are always so cool,calm and collected in spite of his rambunctious nature and exciteable way he gets around you. No glittered eggs this time. Love ya Martha. Kathy H

[dawn]

The beautiful photo's sure do illustrate the variety of personality cacti have - who knew?

[Maureen]

What beautiful photos of all the various cacti.

Thank you for sharing them with us.

Love your blog. It is so informative!!

[Claudia]

Dear Martha,

I have been so sick, coming from few days in the hospital, drugs, pains and a cloudy future so far. It is nice to check your blog and see your adventures. I really wish I was hiking in the desert, surrounded by the beauty and energy of nature and a bunch of good friends.

Have fun, you inspire us.

Claudia

[Joanne]

Martha,
Just LOVE your new Martha Stewart's Cookies book.
Inside, the book, it says First Edition.
Are there going to be more cookie books?
Can you publish a book on Martha Stewart's Chocolate Candy?
SIncerely,
Joanne

[Lisita]

Hey Martha,
I loved the pictures from Arizona.
One day I will go to Canyon Ranch too. I do have a question about your relationship with Kmart. Are you phasing out your line? I just bought the last Farm table and the last Windsor chairs.

[Carol]

Yes, Martha...saguaros are so majestic and truly unique. I am an elementary school teacher in the Phoenix area and actually have pieces of a dead cactus in my classroom. Those holes made by animals living in the saguaro are called 'boots'. A saguaro will form a scab around the wound to protect itself. When a saguaro dies and falls, you can often find these 'boots'...where an owl or cactus wren once called 'home'. Come back and visit us anytime! And thank you for all that you do for us.
Carol
www.velvetbrickspot.blogspot.com

[Kat Haber]

Canyon Ranch, my spiritual retreat for 20 years, a place of healing on many levels and tremendous natural beauty, blooms wildly in spring. Three days ago in Joshua Tree the desert fragrance of spring blossoms intoxicated me with a sweetness so tender, balanced only by the brilliantly hued petals of richest gold, deep violet blue, a blood-iike maroon, palest Easter yellow, and pink of prettiness never before witnessed by these eyes. Luck you Martha, to have hiked also with the masterful sculptress, Natalie. I encourage all to get out and smell the spring flowers emerging and if you can visit Canyon Ranch, do!

[Brooke Collins]

Thank you for the great pictures! It makes me REALLY want to get out of the snow here in Chicago. We have a few pictures of a cactus on our blog at www.zdaisy.typepad.com. I am glad I found your blog and will continue to follow it!