September 2014 in Sedona

Elaine & I stayed at Arroyo Roble unit 1108 for two weeks starting September 19th Friday-to-Friday.  Weather was beautiful!  Elaine & I did Thunder Mountain, and I went up to the top for a view, while Elaine enjoyed shade down below.
Nancy Lunetta and Kay Coen visited, and Nancy and I did the hike to Seven Sacred Pools.  Here is a link to photo album:

Nancy & I at trailhead

At the "pools"

Nancy, Kay, and Elaine surprised me with a celebration of my 70th birthday a few weeks early.
On the 24th, I did the Ridge Trail by myself.  Here is link to photos  Elaine dropped me off at trail head along Chavez Ranch Rd, and then picked me up at Shelby  Rd.  Here is a link to National Forest Description

 Scenery along the trail was surprisingly good, and there were more flowers blooming in September than most areas had in April, because of the dry winter and wet "monsoon" season during the summer.

The next day, I explored the Javelina Trail, which is a relatively new trail that starts on W 89A just West of the Post Office.  Elaine dropped me off and picked me up at the Jordan Road trailhead.  Here's a link to photos

For being as close to civilization as it is, the trail seemed to be far from it.  Lots of forest and as I got up higher, there were some good views.

The next day I did what is becoming one of my favorite hikes -- Brin's Mesa with a North detour up to an overlook.  Views are always spectacular, and difficult to capture properly with photos.  However here is a link to my photos from that day.

 This is the view from a very high perch with sheer walls below

We brought along the 2 person rubber raft, so Elaine and Nancy did their "white water rafting" down the mighty Oak Creek in front of Arroyo Roble.  Weather was perfect, water was not too cold, and they had a really good time.  Link to photos & video.  Also during their short stay in Sedona, Nancy and I did the Marg's draw trail from Schnebly Hill Road trailhead, and Nancy took all of us out to brunch at Enchantment. 

 Nancy at the Marg's Draw trailhead

Nancy at Enchantment Resort

Due to the horrible forest fire in Oak Creek Canyon during June, all of the trails in the canyon were closed from June until the beginning of October.  Our son, Sean flew to Flagstaff, and then drove home with us after spending several fun days hiking the trails.  We were very pleased that they opened the West Fork trail before we left to go home.  It was clear that the firefighters had a very difficult time in that canyon, but they did manage to save most of it.  There were patches of forest where most of the trees were damaged or destroyed.  The West Fork was full of ash/mud at the many ford/crossings, which was somewhat ugly.  But other than that the trail was beautiful, as usual. 

When Sean arrived at Flagstaff Airport, we took him on a short tour of Flagstaff, including a hike in Buffalo Park, lunch at one of the many excellent brew pubs in Flagstaff.  

Sean at Buffalo Park

At Meadow at Oak Creek Canyon Overlook

Then the three of us did the short walk to Griffith Springs,  and a walk around the Oak Creek Canyon overlook at the top of the switchback. Here's link to photos

Sean & I did a hike to Submarine rock and Chicken Point, and Elaine picked us up at the Chapel. Link to album

Then we drove back Dry Creek Road and hiked to Devil's bridge --Link to Album , then drove to the Palatki archeological site, and took the docent tour of the ruins.

 Sean at Devil's Bridge

We were very pleased when they opened the West Fork Trail -- and we were among the first people to take the trail since it was closed in June. (Link to Album)

Sean Crossing the West Fork at about the 7th crossing--lots of ash in water

To wrap up our 2 weeks in Sedona, and Sean's 5 days, Elaine dropped us off at Red Rock Crossing and we hiked along the Creek and up to the top of Cathedral Rock.  Elaine picked us up at the Back 'O Beyond trailhead.  Pretty strenuous hike! Link To Album

 Sean out on a point up in the Cathedral Rock formation -- yeah, that's a sheer drop below him.

Sean on Ledge at near the top of Cathedral Rock

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September 2013 -A green Fall in Sedona

We went to Sedona for 2 weeks starting on September 18th and stayed at Arroyo Roble unit 1102. On the way to Sedona we noticed that everything looked much greener in the desert than any other fall trip to Arizona.  The "monsoon" rain storms they had during the previous month really helped the plants.

Our Sunnyvale friends, Nancy Lunetta and Kay Coen came for a few nights, and Phoenix friends Nancy Rieckhoff and Mark Mann came for Friday and Saturday night.  Elaine and the three ladies found lots of bargains, and Mark and I did a few fun hikes.

My first hike was up Wilson Canyon -- the trail starting at Midgley Bridge which is just a few miles up Route 179 from our timeshare. (Link to Trail Description)  Elaine and I had done the hike before part way.  Then a few years later,  Bill and I did it all the way to the top.  This time there seemed to be more water in the creek (that you have to criss-cross back and forth over.  I was surprised to see that someone had placed a "trails end" sign at a nondescript location, very close to the spot that is the attraction at the end.  I have the impression that the Forest Service, or trail builders want everyone to stop.  However why would we stop there when there is such a wonderful view of spires and back the canyon just up a short hill?  I think they need to extend the "official trail" up to the first hill and then put "end of trail sign" there.  Because there is no "official trail" -- everyone makes their own and causes considerable damage, wear & tear on the environment.  There were also a surprising amount of wildflowers for a fall hike.  Here are some photos

Here is a .kml file that you can download and open using Google Earth.  If you then go to maximum magnification you will be able to simulate a "personal drone" tracking my path along the trail  It was my first attempt at using "My Tracks" and I started when I left the timeshare and drove to the trailhead.

The next day while Elaine went to garage sales with Nancy Lunetta and Kay Coen, I drove up Oak Creek Canyon a little further --almost to Slide Rock State Park, near the Manzanita Campground, and parked near the trailhead for Sterling Pass.  I hiked up through Sterling Pass, and back down the other side to Vultee Arch.  Then, of course I had to hike back up through the pass again and back to the trailhead.  It was quite a climb.  A lot of the pass trail was on the North side of ridges, and were cooler and wetter.  There were a lot of different wildflowers.  Here are some photos from the hike:

Here, again, is a .kml file that you can open with Google Earth and track every step of my hike as if you were in a personal drone overhead.

Here are some photos from Nancy & Kay's short visit:

Mark Mann and I hiked a little bit of the Sedona Airport Trail (Hike Description),  the Airport Vortex hill,  and then hiked the Soldier's Pass trail past Devil's Kitchen, the Seven Sacred Pools (all had water), up to the rim of Brinn's Mesa and then returned.  The next day we went to Clarkville with them (to an importer from Indonesia) and then to Red Rock Crossing.  Here are some photos from their visit:

On Monday, Elaine dropped me off at the Doe Mountain trailhead parking lot, and I crossed the road to the Bear Mountain Trail -- one of the highest peaks in the area (Link to Description).  Here are photos from that hike:

Here is the Google Earth kml file to take the virtual hike.  Note I forgot to stop the "recording" until after Elaine picked me up and we had driven a little bit -- so no, I didn't hike at 45 mph.

While on the Sterling Pass hike, I met a group of hikers that told me that everytime they visit Sedona they take the "Little Horse" trail from the Chapel--and thought it was one of the highlights of their visit.  I looked it up and the trail that starts at the Chapel is "The Chapel" trail --but it connects to the Little Horse Trail. (Here's another description) So Elaine and I did hike the Chapel trail...and it was very beautiful.  Good views looking towards Cathedral Rock, Views south to Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte, and views looking up at the amazing rock formations.  I thought it was labeled an "easy" hike, but after we completed it I found out that other sites call it a moderate difficulty hike.  Not much overall climb--but lots of up & down.
Here are our photos:

Cathedral Rock Climb to the Top I had always heard there was a way to hike to the top of Cathedral Rock, (link to map) but had never explored that option.  On previous trips we took the trail from the trailhead off "Back 'O Beyond" down to Red Rock Crossing, and saw the trail to the top of Cathedral Rock --but never had the time to do it.  This time I went up on a beautiful day, took my time, plenty of water and snacks and really enjoyed the hike and the views.  A Japanese guy went up the trail when I went up and he was carrying a case with a lute.  He sat and played up at the top and his music echoed off all of the spires. The music seemed to come from everywhere.
Here are some photos:




Brins Mesa Overlook Trail  Elaine dropped me off at the Jordan Road trailhead  (map) and I hiked to the rim of the mesa.  I then took a little used trail to the top of the ridge on the South side of the mesa.  From the top of that ridge I could see all of Sedona, and look down on Soldier's pass trail.  I could see jeeps parked at the "7 Sacred Pools" location.  There was no clear trail marking, so I did get a little lost.  Fortunately, I had the "my tracks" app running (see this track on Google Earth)  and I was able to see that I wasn't going down the mountain the same way I came up --and was able to recover the trail.  Then after coming down from that ridge, I went to the overlook on the North side that Bill helped me find several years ago.  It was an easy walk across the broad mesa winding through the juniper trees.  After I got to the overlook, I also explored a couple of alcoves down below.   They were difficult to get to--and were big holes -- but nothing really special.  The view from the top, however was fabulous!

Here are my photos from the trail

Little Horse Trail  Elaine and I hiked the little horse trail --from the trailhead along rt 179. (Link to kml trail file)  Was a fairly easy hike --when walking, however there were quite a few trail bike riders on the trail.  It looked to us that it would be a little challenging for bikes --but certainly a fun ride.

Here are our photos

Wilson Mountain Trail
Elaine dropped me off at the Encinoso Picnic area, which was the trailhead for the "North" trail to Wilson Mountain.  I ended up hiking about 11 miles and up and down about 2000 ft in elevation and went to the Sedona overlook and the Brin's Canyon overlook.  (Here's link to the kml file that can be viewed on google maps or Google Earth ) I came down the "Southern" trail and met Elaine at Midgley Bridge.  Here are photos: