I've had my eye on Mt. Ord for a while and since I couldn't make a decision on whether to go to the Rim or up to Sedona to hike-- I finally took the plunge and went to check out all that weird mountain stuff I always wonder about on my drives up 87. It wasn't too toasty today. I got to Slate Creek pretty early so I had a good bit of shady stretches to break up the exposure. Then once I hit the pines, the temp dropped for a while.

I really enjoyed this hike even though it was all either on old jeep road or forest road. I don't think it would have been so open otherwise. This is definitely a hike full of awesome views. You can see all over the Mazzies, Roosevelt Lake, and the rim. The AEG is up there, too, but it didn't seem as steep as I was expecting. The stretch on jeep road has a few slug spots but once you hit the forest road its smooth sailing-- nice soft dirt and a more gradual incline. Of course, that's only the last few miles up but it's definitely appreciated at that point. The jeep road, like most, is pretty rocky, rugged, and rough on the feet. I got to Slate Creek around 7:30am and was back down by 2pm. There was one other group of hikers going all the way and then a couple walking their dogs about a mile from the TH on my way down. It would have been a super late start and they didn't look geared up for 15 miles so I hope they weren't attempting it.

Not on my top five but a necessary hike to see all those views!