On Monday, I went on my first solo hike, as Greg, who had started a job the previous week, had to head to the office. He did let me borrow his car, however, which was a huge help the entire week. I can’t thank him and Sarah enough for their generosity in working out travel arrangements that allowed me to put hundreds of miles on G’s ride.
Driving Greg’s Mercury Mountaineer, I made the trip north on US-17. Within just a couple dozen miles of Phoenix, the road began to gain elevation and views of mountain ranges opened up on both sides of the highway. It was difficult to just keep my focus on the road ahead. I stopped at a rest area about 60 miles north of Phoenix called Sunset Point and snapped a few photos.
The drive took longer than I anticipated — well over two hours — but when I finally reached the south side of Sedona, I knew it was worth it. Red rock mountains and buttes loomed in front of me. It’s hard to describe the incredible clay color of these structures without being there, but let’s just say I had a hard time taking my eyes off their intoxicating beauty.
I made the drive through Sedona and its plethora of shops and restaurants and drove about 9 miles on the winding Route 89, which featured a huge dropoff on its right side. The drive rekindled memories of 1999, when I visited the area with my family in April and it was covered by snow (so much snow, in fact, that we had to cancel our trip to the Grand Canyon). Then I finally reached the trailhead for the West Fork trail of Oak Creek Canyon, one of the most popular hikes in the area.
The 2-to-3-mile hike was mostly flat and followed the stream. It was alluring because of the towering canyon walls, some red rock and others more granite-looking, that loomed overhead. I constantly craned my head to take them in. The hike was also interesting because of all the creek crossings — 13 in all! The stream was extremely high because of snow melting — there was still a little snow here and there — and it made for several spots where I had to delicately navigate logs and rocks over the raging water. The water was never very high, maybe two feet max, but a fall still could have been disastrous, especially considering the temperature of the water.
At one spot, there was no log, no rocks to hop on, so I took off my hiking boots and shoes and waded across. As a family approached behind me, I told them that I wouldn’t dare spend more than 1 minute in the water. It was that frigid.
The Oak Creek Canyon hike was enjoyable, but I didn’t feel like it, alone, warranted the five-plus hours of driving the journey would end up being. So on the way back out of town, I stopped at a trailhead, right on the highway, for the Little Horse Trail. It was another easy hike — 1.5 miles each way, little to no elevation gain, but the views were spectacular and inspiring. The trail was mostly packed-down red clay, and each side was flanked by cacti, a huge difference from the pine trees and bushes along the West Fork trail.
As I walked along the path, a row of red rock spires appeared closer and closer. To my left, I noticed a man-made cross that had been built into the side of a cliff. The scenery was simply incredible. I continued along the path until I reached the base of a plateau called Chicken Rock. After a short, circuitous climb, I reached a large, sweeping flat red rock. I dropped my Camelback, looked around and smiled.
As the late-afternoon sun hit me from the West, with the temperature at around 4,000 feet in the 60s with a light wind, I had views in all directions. To the east, I took in several higher mountains of a granite hue. The same view, but much sunnier, was available across the distant highway to the west. Even more alluring, though, were the red rock spires and buttes that rose up directly across the narrow gorge just to the north of me. They struck an imposing presence against the deep blue sky.
I sat down and took it all in before making the easy but beautiful hike back to the Mountaineer. It had been a rather easy 8-mile day of hiking. But the rewards had been out of this world.
What would the rest of the week bring?
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