Hello everyone, I know its been a while since I blogged, but I haven't traveled much in the last 4 months. since I got home from Barbados, I have stayed put in San Diego getting ready for my sister & brother-in-law to arrive from North Carolina. We made the decision to combine our households and they moved to San Diego the first week of April. Since then we have be re-arranging the house and unpacking. Prior to knowing their arrival date in SD, I had planned a mid-April trip to Sedona for some hiking with my good friend Cathy. So when the family arrived, I hung out with them for a week, then said, 'adios' I'm off to Arizona for a week!
Sedona is so beautiful, land of the red rock mesa's and buttes. We did two hikes each day we were there and all were very diverse hikes. For those of you that enjoy this type of activity, this blog entry will give you a few gorgeous pics by Cathy and the info you need to follow our hikes if you'd like to go yourself
We drove from Phoenix to Sedona, and if you haven't been to Arizona, you are probably thinking - what is the difference between the two places? Aren't they just a couple of desert towns? Well no, the are distinctly different. Sedona is at a higher elevation than Phoenix and tends to be a bit cooler. Besides climate, I was amazed at the diversity it the hikes we did - particularly West Fork trail, in comparison to say Coffee Pot trail - but more on that in a moment. I've been to Phoenix many times but I hit it just right this year and the Paulo Verde trees were in bloom - beautiful!
 |
| Beautiful Palo Verde tees in Phoenix |
We arrived in Sedona, late after noon. We made a stop at Montezuma Castle on our way.
Montezuma Castle National Monument protects a set of well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings near the town of Camp Verde, Arizona. The dwellings were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples of the southwestern US, between approximately 1100 and 1425 AD. The main structure comprises five stories and twenty rooms, and was built over the course of three centuries.
Neither part of the monument's name is correct. When European-Americans first observed the ruins in the 1860s, by then long-abandoned, they named them for the famous Aztec emperor Montezuma in the mistaken belief that he had been connected to their construction
Several Hopi clans and Yavapai communities trace their ancestries to early immigrants from the Montezuma Castle/Beaver Creek area. Clan members periodically return to these ancestral homes for religious ceremonies. (Wiipidia)
Our home base for our stay in Sedona was the Courtyard by Marriott. This was a great location for us as it is on the west end, less touristy part of town, nice, quiet and new - just opened 6 months prior to our stay in April.
 |
| The view from our room at the Courtyard |
Day 1: Crescent Moon Ranch/Red Rock Crossing. We drove around the corner from the hotel, down Red Rock Loop road to Crescent Moon Ranch/Red Rock Crossing. At this location you will find a well maintained park suitable for picnicking, paths that lead to benches and at the East end of a meadow is the John Lee homestead cabin, a mill, a water wheel and a red rock building - there is a plaque that will tell you all about it. There is a paved path that leads to Oak Creek. There are multiple trails that you can follow on both sides of the creek. Follow along the creek and you will come along an area that is called Buddha Beach. You will find dozens of stacked 'prayer' rocks here at this 'Vortex' site. I can't say much about the Vortex other than I found it extremely beautiful and peaceful here. You can also see Cathedral Rock from this location, however we were there early morning and that is not the best place to get a picture of this fabulous formation. (more on that day 4)
 |
| Prayer Rocks |
 |
| Oak Creek & Cathedral Rock |
For lunch we went to the Enchantment Resort. This is a lovely resort (way out of our price range!!) in the Boynton Canyon area. Being hotel geeks, we like to go look at these luxury properties. The property is gated, but you can go for lunch, or happy hour and enjoy the wonderful views.
 |
| Cathy & I and the view from the terrace restaurant at Enchantment |
Afternoon: Boynton Vista Trail (.7 miles round trip) After lunch we headed to Boynton Vista Trail. This trail is a short hike up to Boynton Spires. The red sandstone formations on this trail are amazing. 'They' have named the formations in Sedona for what they look like to some -- the most prominent one is called 'The Kachina Women' - they also say this is a vortex site. As we entered the trail, a man stopped us and gave us each a sandstone heart -- we thought,
'OK, what does this guy want?' but he just smiled at us and wished us a pleasant hike. As we made our way around the trail, climbing towards the spires, a women stopped us and asked if we were here to listen to the 'flute player'? We didn't know anything about it, and she told us that almost every day, this man sits on top of a butte and plays a wooden flute, which echoes through the canyon. Sounded interesting so we kept moving forward and before long we saw a small gathering of people around the base of a butte. There was a man sitting on the butte playing this beautiful music on his flute -- and guess what!?! He was the one that gave us the sandstone hearts! I climbed up on the butte (as did others) and listened for a while. It was quite lovely!
 |
| panoramic view from the butte |
 |
| the flute man |
Day 2: Oak Creek Canyon - West Fork. (6 miles, round trip, level trail) This hike is one of the most amazing canyons in Arizona - you might not think you are in Arizona on this 'woods-y' hike. Locate in the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness, this trail parallel the West Fork of Oak Creek. The trail follows the creek and you will have up to 13 water crossings depending on how far you choose to go. The lush wooded canyon has a diverse riparian community with exotic flora & fauna. (we kept seeing the word riparian in our readings on the area and had to look it up - here is the definition: ri·par·i·an. rəˈperēən,rīˈperēən adjective relating to or situated on the banks of a river; relating to wetlands adjacent to rivers and streams.)
 |
| West Fork morning hike |
 |
| The West Fork Trail |
This was one of my top two favorite hikes. It was so lush and beautiful, I loved hiking to the sounds of the creek and still seeing the soaring canyon walls.
 |
| Cathy at the creek, West Fork Trail |
 |
| West Fork - so diverse! |
Afternoon: Coffee Pot Rock. (3.2 Miles round trip) Our afternoon hike this day was Coffee Pot Rock - you get there via the TeaCup trail - seriously! LOL. As you begin this trail you will see multiple trail forks. Take the one marked Teacup Trail to the right and head toward the red cliffs and follow the trail, it is always marked when there is a choice stay on the Teacup to get the best view of Coffeepot Rock. Coffeepot Rock is so named because its shape is simular to an old-fashioned percolator coffee pot with a spout. You can see this rock formation pretty much from anywhere in the Sedona area - can you see the percolator & spout?
Day 3: Overlook Point or Airport Mesa (.5 mile loop) This short trail loops around two small hills on the northeast end of the Airport Mesa ( so called because the airport is right there!) This hike will give you a 360 degree view of Sedona if you hike all the way around. Even though it is a shorter trail, it did take us a little more time than expected because the trail comes very close to the edge of hill/cliff, and it is wise to take it a little slower. The view is very picturesque and a good way to get a comprehensive view of Sedona. (not sure why, but no pics from this hike)
 |
| view from Doe Mountain |
Afternoon: Doe Mountain Trail ( 1.5 miles to Mesa, another 1.25 miles if you do the loop trail on top of the mesa.) The Doe Mountain trail ends atop a 5,067 foot mesa that measures less than a half mile at its wides point. The trail is a series of switchbacks to get you up to the mesa. I won't
lie - this was a bit hard on our knees - big steps up in some places. The view is 400 feet above the valley and is spectacular. Hindsight being 20-20, I wish we would have done this hike in the cooler morning hours rather that the afternoon.
 |
| view from the top of the Mesa, Doe Mountain |
Day 4: Back O' Beyond Road, Cathedral Rock (1.4 miles round trip to Templeton Trail or 3.5 miles to Cathedral Rock). Remember on day 1 when we went to Crescent Moon Ranch/Red Rock and could see views to Cathedral Rock? Well, here is the trail to do if you want to hike to Cathedral Rock. It is a lovely trail with amazing view. You can go as far as Templeton Trail and turn around or if you feel like doing some rock scampering (climbing) you can do the whole Cathedral trail. We did the 1.5 mile loop early in the day. If this wasn't our departure day, we would have stayed longer - but we had one more hike to fit in before heading home.
Last hike of the trip: Little Horse Trail to Chicken Point. (3 miles round trip) This trail meanders through the beautiful Twin Buttes and the West Ridge of Lee Mountain. Alone the trial you will see the Chapel Spires, Madonna & the Nuns. The trail will take you to Chicken point, a series of large, round flat rocks and spectacular red rock vistas. From Chicken Point you will see Twin Butte spires, Cathedral Rock, Gibraltar Rock, Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, Submarine Rock, Lee Mountain, Munds Mountain & the Crimson Cliffs. This was also a favorite hike for me. I wish we had more time here to explore - but there is always next time!
 |
| Chicken Point, Cathy thinks it looks a a space ship |
 |
| can you spot Susan in this picture? |
Helpful hints: Important items to take with you on your hikes:
*a walking pole
*waterproof hiking boots ( or ones that you don't mind getting wet or red dusted)
*snacks
*water, water & more water
Helpful to us in choosing our hike was a book called: Day Hikes Around Sedona Arizona - 100 Great Hikes by Robert Stone. Descriptions and directions were spot on! Thanks Edward for the loan of the book
As an added bonus, as we headed back to Phoenix, we stopped at Javelina Leap Winery! Who knew there where wineries in the desert!?! Totally worth the stop - Great Reds here!
 |
| Cathy & Susan with the Owner |
Many thanks to my good friend, Cathy Sroka for taking the majority of the pictures for this blog. As you can see she is an excellent photographer!
So long for now - I have a big trip planned for June/July, so come back later this summer to see the trip blog on Ireland!!
 |
| hanging on at Chicken Point |
