Red Rock Fever- Week 1

We’ve moved north of Phoenix to the Sedona area. We set up camp in Lo Lo Mai Springs RV Park 10 miles south of town in Page Springs AZ. The RV park is a family run operation along Oak Creek and has a laid back country atmosphere.

Our neighbor

With all the snowmelt up north in Flagstaff the creek was raging.

We’ve visited the area a few times and are always drawn back for the vistas and numerous hiking opportunities. In an effort to explore more trails we booked three weeks in the area.

Little Horse Trail to Chicken Point

We started our week of hiking with a relatively mellow walk in the popular Bell Rock hiking area. This trail is popular with both hikers and bikers.

Agave

Doe Mesa

Doe Mesa is a short steep climb to a remote Mesa with 360 degree views of the surrounding area. It shares a parking lot with the more popular and challenging trail to Bear Mountain. The parking lot fills early with people hiking the mountain but Doe Mesa is usually a quiet oasis.

Transept Trail

This trail has been officially recognized for only one year. Consequently it is not well known and is lightly traveled. It took two attempts to complete this hike. On the first go around-the thunder and lightning sent us scurrying back to the trail head before we reached the high point.

We came back a couple of days later to hike the complete trail. Only a few people shared the trail with us and the quiet was unique among the many trails in Sedona.

Jacob’s Ladder

Hedgehog Cactus

This trail is not just for hiking. For a few skilled riders it is a Double Diamond bike trail.

This trail is gnarly to the extreme. For us it’s not rideable but the hike was pure joy.

The trail ends at its intersection with the popular Hiline Trail with great views of Cathedral Rock.

Brins Mesa/Soldier Pass/Cibola Pass Loop

This was our longest hike. It took us five hours to walk the seven mile loop. This included a one mile detour to the high point of Brins Mesa. We got an early start and hiked alone for most of the morning.

The top of Brins Mesa

Can you spot Shelly on the mesa’s highpoint which offers terrific vistas.

Heading down through Soldier Pass

The massive sink hole that makes up Devil’s Kitchen at the intersection of Soldier Pass Trail and Cibola Pass Trail.

The “Sacred” Pools along Soldier Pass Trail

The hiking has been epic so far. We can’t wait to see what comes our way in the coming weeks.