The road to a national championship ended this week in my backyard. Congratulations to UConn for beating Purdue to cap a dominating run to a repeat title in the Division I men’s college basketball final. My Wild Bunch Desert Guides were blessed to host a number of guests in town for the Final Four including the operations crew in charge of the ladders for the trademark cutting down of the nets by the winners. However, hoops was hardly the only golden activity in the Sonoran Desert with five-star rated guided Phoenix hiking tours & guided Phoenix mountain bike tours offered daily.

Easter is the final Sunday in March this year. But it hardly needs to be the holiday for Wild Bunch Desert Guides guests to go on an “Easter Egg Hunt” with guided Phoenix hiking tours. From colorful plant life, exotic animals and a rich tapestry cascading across the sky during sunrise or sunset, Arizona’s Sonoran Desert boasts all sorts of once-in-a-lifetime sights waiting to be discovered.

“Selection Sunday” is March 17. Three weekends after that, “March Madness” for college men’s basketball concludes with the “Final Four” in Phoenix. If making a fastbreak to the Valley of the Sun for “The Big Dance” – or even visiting for spring training baseball or Spring Break from school -- here is an “Elite Eight” list of must-do Phoenix adventure tours.