Sweet Memories Taken for Granite

The most treacherous rock at The Boulders is not one of the massive granite stones for which the Arizona resort is named. It’s not even the Balancing Rock, which throws a mean shadow across the third tee on the golf course.

The most treacherous rock is the size of a bonbon. And therein lies the trap.

After a carefree dinner, there in Carefree, Ariz., I followed a winding path to my adobe casita.

It was quiet enough to hear the desert sigh; it was black enough for a flashlight. I struck a match to fragrant juniper logs in the corner fireplace of my room and breathed deeply of fresh air and contentment.

It was then that I saw the card by my pillow, and on it a bedtime sweet.

I picked it up and realized that it was sugary rough--divinity or marzipan, I guessed, though shaped like a chocolate truffle. I brushed it against my tongue; it had no taste. It was, in fact, gritty.

I turned on the table lamp and reached for my glasses. In little letters the card said: “A small gift from our desert to wish you a tranquil rest filled with pleasant dreams throughout your stay at The Boulders.”

Delicious words, but then:

“Because of its petal-like shapes, this special crystal is called a Desert Rose. These roses are found under the desert floor, formed by the sand of dry lake beds by evaporation of spring rainwater under the hot summer sun.”

I pushed it out of my reach.

That was the only flaw I found at The Boulders, a tumble of rocks and jade-green turf that’s a reputed paradise for golfers, of which I am not one.

Still, I can report what I saw from a cart. The courses are tough and intriguing, aptly named Saguaro, the Lakes, the Boulders. Among the natural hazards: a 300-year-old saguaro cactus that rises from a white sand trap, its prickly arms raised in warning.

Each of the 27 holes has four sets of tees that shimmer like lily pads upon the lion-colored land. You play from the tee that matches your skill, of course, but it is worth a climb to the top because the champions get the best views.

Discreet signs along manicured paths warn golfers to watch for flying balls. That’s because some of the tees are out of sight on tawny boulders, 30 feet above the close-cropped fairway.

Greens are lightning-quick. Balls can careen off sideline rocks and the hard trunks of ironwood trees. The roughs on this course are not long grass or bush, but the rugged Sonora Desert.

As if four-tiered takeoff platforms were not challenge enough, The Boulders has three-tiered greens. There are desert rules, which I don’t remember, except that you learn when to give up on lost balls and where to resume play if you find them.

Some golfers will give a point, I was told, rather than fight with a chuckwalla lizard or a jumping cholla cactus. A Boulders pro said: “If you have any doubts when lining up a putt, just remember that they all break toward Phoenix.”

The restaurants at The Boulders are museums of century-old Navajo weavings, as well as contemporary Indian artwork. Showcases of pottery glow near crackling hearths.

In the Discovery Lounge, where windows frame grotto pools and waterfalls, burnished trunks of Ponderosa pines from northern Arizona support log-and-slat ceilings. The lodge has a clubby mood, friendly but not back-slapping.

But don’t go inside before dark.

At sundown, that purple hour when the air turns cool at 2,500 feet, desert trails beckon.

Cactus wrens sing boldly from their thickets, just steps from each casita. Cottontail rabbits play through the golf course. Arroyos are ski slopes for lizards.

Each night I left my terrace door ajar so that I could hear coyotes howl on the faraway wind. I left the curtains open so I could stare at the stars.

As I drifted off to sleep, I wondered if other guests had popped those candy-like rocks into their mouths? I wondered if others had been tempted to taste the bright red fruit of a cactus called Christmas cholla? I wondered how I could even think of food after my scrumptious Southwest dinner in the Palo Verde room?

As golfers say, it takes practice.