The century plants were in glorious bloom through the hike, with the best example right in the parking lot at the Jordan Road Trailhead. (As it is referred to on Google Maps; signage at the trailhead refers to it as the Jim Thompson Trailhead.) After taking a few pictures, I headed out, hiking clockwise.

After a brief misdirection on Jordan Trail, I got on Cibola Pass Trail. The “pass” itself, is barely 125 ft. above surrounding terrain. (Which makes the saddle behind my house look like the Khyber Pass.) The most mitten-like view of The Mitten, came very quickly, while still on its easterly side, before reaching the top of Cibola Pass.

The best views of Morning Glory Spire some as Cibola Pass Trail reconnects to Jordan Trail, where the route crosses slickrock as it approaches the Devils Kitchen Sinkhole. Even when on normal dirt trail, other than a few century plants, flowers were quite rare.

After checking out the sinkhole, I made my first planned diversion, heading west on Teacup Trail, which starts as jeep trail. According to the map, Teacup heads southwest, fairly straight for a half mile before Skidmark Trail splits off from it. Instead, Teacup was perhaps the twistiest trail I’ve ever been on. Given all the mountain bike tracks, Teacup had obviously been rerouted and optimized for MTBs. (More twists = more gradual elevation gain.) It was actually a mile to reach the intersection, which is located at a small boulder pile. Skidmark Trail is not obvious, but it is there. You just have to look close. As the views of Coffee Pot Rock were no better up close, and time was a factor, I headed back to Devils Kitchen.

Whereas from Teacup, Coffee Pot looks just the face of a cliff, from Soldier Pass Trail, it instead looks like a series of tilting dominoes. You can see Coffee Pot is composed of four or five separate spires.

The most scenic part of Soldier Pass Trail is the Seven Sacred Pools, a series of pothole cascades in a short gulley worn through the slickrock. The water was not flowing, but lining the Seven Sacred Pools up with Coffee Pot Rock makes for a great photograph, if shot in vertical mode. (As I found on Google image search, I was not the only one to have this realization.)

Just before the trail begins climbing to the top of Soldier Pass, I instead turned up a side trail towards the Soldier Pass Arches. Soon after that, I bailed. I was close to the arches, but keeping an eagle eye on my time, and it was getting short. I had started at about 7:40 a.m., with a hard end-ex of 12:15 p.m. It was already 10:50 a.m. and I had almost three miles to go.

I soon connected to Brins Mesa Trail, and booked across Brin Mesa’s burn area. Most of the trees were killed off in 2006, while the shrubbery have recovered, but the few survivors provided welcome relief. (The temp when I started was a pleasant 75, with a high -- at 3pm -- of 92 predicted, but it was already around 95!)

The descent down Brin Mesa’s east slope is across a half mile of steep slick rock, before re-entering the tree line. With .75 miles to go, I took another quick break, texting ahead to my always patient wife to let her know I would be back at the Jordan Road Trailhead in about 15 minutes. In the end, it took my old ass about 20 minutes, despite what felt like hauling ass. I arrived about 12:25, had a quick pee, rehydrated, threw my gear in the back, and off we flew to our lunch date up Oak Creek Canyon at Indian Gardens.

Hike Video: [ youtube video ]

Wildflowers
Could count 'em on one hand.

Was planning on hiking to Vultee Arch. However, I hurt my knee yesterday and decided to do an easier hike.

We where gonna hike it from 89A. which I considered too steep given my injury. But I recalled seeing a picture of Morning Glory Spire and recalled it was off the Soliders Pass Trail. So on the drive north to Sedona we decided to do Soldiers Pass instead and link three trails together to create a loop. Soldiers pass to Brins Mesa to Jordan trail and then back to the car. The hike was super easy and we made a ton of side excursions. I turned off the GPS during those as to not interfere with the track. We hiked the 5.97 miles in about two and a half hours. This included all the times we hiked off the trail for fun. It doesn't include the hour and 15 minutes it took us to hike/climb to the top of morning glory spire.

I wasn't sure how to get up there so we scrambled from behind the sinkhole. It was pretty painless, We spent some time route finding etc. Pretty much hike up from behind the sinkhole, continuing up but trying to head to the northeast side. From their its a scramble uphill (This was the only sketchy part IMO.) Once your basically at the base you need to climb down to get to get around the corner to climb up. I should have taken pictures to help with the approach. From there its pretty easy climbing. I had a harder time hiking up the hill with all the loose rocks. Tons of what looked like rabbit poop everywhere. Curious to know if its from a rabbit or something else.

The hike was fun, probably worth repeating when there is a higher chance of water. The only part of the hike I didn't like was the Jordan trail. Too close to powerlines, houses, and the road. However, the rest of the hike was fun. Morning Glory was a nice add-on. I'm not even sure if I hiked/climb to the top correctly, but it made for a little added excitement. All I can add is that If your comfortable climbing 5.0-5.4 you should have no problem getting to the top. I personally think its hard class 4 but there was a few awkward moves to get on top.

Our fourth and final hike of the day started from the Soldier Pass Trailhead. This hike came onto my radar a few months ago when I saw some pics on Instagram of a cool looking cave. Then Coanbru, Joe & Tortoise Hiker hit this about a month ago making a loop hike that seemed perfect! The trailhead parking was full and a sign said you had to be out by 6pm. It was 3pm and I figured we’d cut it close so we parked outside the gate in a residential area.

We started hiking and came to the huge sinkhole a few minutes into the hike. I thought it would be bigger but it was still very cool. From there we headed north on the Soldier Pass Trail. The trail is in great condition and relatively easy to follow. I had Coanbru’s GPS track and we easily found the turnoff for the cave. The use trail makes a steady climb leading to a cliff face. There were a few people hanging out in the window making a ton of noise. They were obnoxious! We climbed up into the cave and admired this magical place despite the noisy group. We took our pics and got out of there returning to the Soldier Pass Trail.

Once back on the main trail we continued north and connected onto the Brins Mesa Trail heading southeast. We took a break right before the trail makes the steep descent back to the Brins Trailhead. It was getting late in the day so we kept the break short and continued down the Brins Mesa Trail. As we neared the trailhead I figured there would be a short cut connecting onto the Cibola Pass Trail making for a perfect loop. We found a trail but it was hard to follow because spur trails went in several different directions. We had to go off trail to reach the Cibola Pass Trail but it wasn’t a big deal. Once on the Cibola Pass Trail we made quick time as we went over the pass heading west and connected onto the Jordan Trail. We took that back to the sinkhole and were back to the jeep a few minutes before 6pm. We timed this perfectly. From there we stopped at Pisa Lisa for some delicious pizza and then returned to Phoenix through Cottonwood. This was another wonderful trip and everything worked out perfectly!

had heard good things about this loop
started from soldier pass road and went up soldier pass trail first
great view when you turn around at the top
took brins mesa and noted the fire damage
cibola pass and jordan to close the loop
very enjoyable and scenic hike
saw the huge sinkhole

Just a little hike to get outside and explore Sedona a little bit. Wife chose this one. Had a great time going out on Jordan and returning on Cibola Pass. Extended Jordan to Devil's Kitchen Sinkhole

Wife mentioned the Hummingbird Festival a few weeks ago, and being a good husband I took the hint and made arrangements to spend a day up there. Figured I might as well get in a hike, since the festival wouldn't be up & running until mid-morning when normal people wake up. Brin's Mesa was one of about 150 wishes on my list, and the one closest to where we were staying (Matterhorn, on 89A north of the Y). Met up with OL at the Jordan TH, and off we went. A couple of guys passed us on the way up Brin's, and about 15 minutes back they came: "It gets really steep". It's not bad, and it's only 300 feet. Certainly nothing like the step-ups on Ballantine. Brin's Mesa was very green, and looks to be recovering well from the 2006 fire. Soldier Pass was the most enjoyable part of the hike, with nice shade and interesting slick rocks and pools. Most interesting part of the hike was The Pit, just west of Devil's Kitchen. I didn't notice it when I looked at the HAZ topo, but on further review, there is a small depression symbol if you look close. Stupid camera battery lost charge at that point. Made it back to the TH, said we try to catch up with OL at the hummingbird banding, then headed back to the hotel for the day's second shower. Unfortunately, took our time back at the hotel -- it was supposed to be a relaxing day! -- then got distracted by a shopping spree at Buck Thornton's World of Jerky. (Total Damage: $73.) By the time we got out, the hummingbirds were doing the sensible thing, hiding from the hordes pouring into Sedona. Oh well, wife picked up a really nice copper art hummingbird feeder, so she was happy, which was, afterall, the point of the trip.

I saw on HAZ that kingsnake was going to do this Trail. Needed a good excuse to get out of town and he was nice enough to allow me to join him. It's always nice to meet a fellow HAZer and go on a good Hike. Met him and his wife at the TH at 5:30ish and I almost didn't recognize him without a gash in his head! Sorry, Preston, you knew I had to throw that in.... Shortly after, we took off down the Trail. We were doing a Loop, based on hippiepunkpirate's Route.

There was a few Clouds at the beginning of the Hike which the Sunrise lit up nicely. It was fairly cool to start, but became a little muggy and warm later into the Hike. We reached the top of the Mesa in good time and enjoyed the Sunlit views. It was cool watching the Moon set behind the Mountains as well. Looks like at one time, there was a Fire in this area, as alot of the Trees were dead, but the brush had come back. Probably a few years ago, I'm thinking.

Continued along the Mesa and took a side spur that took you to a small, rocky Outcrop, where the views were even nicer! Got a very good look at my nemesis, Capitol Butte, from the back side. Need to do that Hike again and do it better, it's a fun one!!! Enjoyed the views, took some pics and went back down the Spur the way we came and got back on the main Trail.

Got to where it intersects with Soldier Pass and headed south, where Soldier Pass eventually hooked up with the Jordan Trail. Along Jordan Trail, we encountered a huge Sinkhole with a mega Boulder inside. I tried to get Preston to jump down into the hole so I could get a "scaled" picture of that rock, but he politely declined.... It would have been very difficult, the walls were all "sheared off", making them unnegotiable without a rope.

Continued on, until we met up with the Cibola Pass Trail, which we took back to the TH. Really nice Loop and there are alot of variations of it that can make it longer if you like. We did the shortest of the Loops today, as Preston and his wife had other plans.

Preston told me that they were going to Sedona, not so much to Hike, but to attend the Hummingbird Festival that was happening in Sedona that weekend. It sounded so interesting that Preston sent me the link and I made a few plans of my own to check it out. After the Hike, I went to one area and watched some Hummingbird experts trap, band and gather data on a male, juvenile, Black-chinned Hummingbird. It was very cool and fascinating at the same time. How they can handle those birds, when their hands are 4x the size of the Bird, very cool to watch. Turns out, they trap them very similar to what I use to Trap Dogs and Cats. Very Humane, very little stress to the Bird. It was actual kind of an "aw" moment, when the gal came back from the Trap with the bird in a small netted bag. She warned us that Black-chins are very vocal when being banded, even though it doesn't hurt them. True to her word, the Hummingbird chirped and squeaked the whole time.... I guess alot of other species of Hummers are much quieter. I took some video of the process and a couple of pictures, but they just didn't turn out. I cannot even tell you how tiny the bands for these birds are. Glad I went! It was well worth the while. Afterwards I drove over to where there were some vendors that were part of the Festival and wandered around a bit, before heading to my next Hike. It was pretty warm by this time, so my decision for my next Hike was a no brainer.

Thanks Preston for allowing me to join you! I really enjoyed this Trail and the company!!! Glad I finally got a chance to meet you. Someday, maybe we can Hike again!!!

We made a loop hike out of the Brins Mesa -> Soldier Trail -> Jordan -> Cibola Pass that made this into a nice 5.3 miler. Brins Mesa is a beautiful trail, hard to believe it's almost on top of the town of Sedona! Even though the town was packed, the trail wasn't that busy. This is one of those where you have to remember to turn around and look back - The views just keep getting better and better. There's a cool rock on top of the mesa that offers 360 degree views (see my pano shots). This is definitely on the "do again" list!

My fiancee had to meet with a client in Sedona, so I tagged along for the ride and did this Brin's Mesa - Soldier Pass - Jordan Trail - Cibola Pass Trail Loop. Of course, being a saturday there were a lot of oblivious tourists out. Got asked for directions 3 different times, the third of which ended up being a real pain. Note to self: avoid popular trails on weekends in Sedona. Nice day though, and not really crowded, just obnoxious people. Stopped at the little "summit" at the top of Brin's Mesa, had it all to myself for a good 15 minutes. Extra mile added because I walked from the trail head back into town. Here's the GPS route for the trip: http://hikearizona.com/location_g.php?GPS=10087