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| Hiking | 9.50 Miles |
1,427 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.50 Miles | | | |
| 1,427 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Norm’s Notch. Fun, Adventurous, Scenic, Majestic. But not a stroll, and does require some trail scouting, not much, but a bit.
So the basics first. Norm’s Notch lies north of Sedona, running along ridges of a large rock formation that rises up sharply from the Dry Creek basin, and sits directly behind Capital Butte. The trailhead lies on Brin’s Mesa trail, a couple hundred feet east of Dry Creek Road. The closest parking lot lies on Dry Creek Road, a road requiring a high clearance vehicle to traverse. No mind, though, a mile or so away, one can park at Long Canyon trailhead, at a dirt parking area off the paved Long Canyon Road. Norm’s Notch trail itself forms a loop, with part of the loop a section of Brin’s Mesa trail. The loop runs about six miles with about a 1,000 feet of cumulative elevation change. So parking, distance, and elevation change do not represent the main challenge or fun.
Rather, the key lies in that Norm’s Notch by all appearances receives no maintenance, does not appear on official Forest Service trail lists, receives light to little traffic, and has no trail markers or signs (that I saw). Thus, the trail does not run wide and distinct. I hit that right away just looking for the trail junction at the start. I couldn’t find it, not even some unofficial cairn. (Note in a 2006 Hike AZ triplog, that hiker did find the junction, but in 2006. That triplog also reports cairns along on the trail. In 2022, I didn’t see any). In any event, absent finding the trail junction, I started trail scouting into and around the (relatively) open forest where the trailhead was supposed to be. I hit a good prospect for a trail a couple hundred feet into the forest. And serendipitously that trail continued in a direction that matched the GPS track I had for Norm’s Notch. Now vegetation had encroached to narrow the trail, but the trail ran continuous, and matched the GPs track, as it ran up an initial ascent. I missed a few turns (or maybe the trail became indistinct), but with the GPS track picked the trail back up. Now the trail became a bit steep at times, but no issues, just rocky and slippery.
Once the trail finished the initial ascent, it opened up onto a plateau to reveal majestic views. Peaks and spires towered up on one side, and cliff edges fell off to sharp drops on the other. Colors and rock strata and rock cleavages abounded all around. Long vistas stretched into the distance And solitude. I did not pass one other hiker, nor even see one, on the trail.
Now, more on the cliff edges. And sharp drop-offs. Essentially straight down, maybe a hundred feet. And for long sections of the trail. I found that a bit challenging due to the visual sense of the edge, and needed a good bit of concentration and fortitude. You might not, as this was my sense. Importantly, the trail never ran treacherously along the ledges, never thin or slopping outward, generally straight and several feet wide. But nonetheless along the edge. No real issue, but I would say don’t bring a dog, or a kid, or a partner wanting an calm saunter, or a person not sure-footed or not well-balanced or not comfortable with heights.
On the trail continuity itself, yes problems existed running through areas with vegetation (one major problem described below) but I found most tracking issues arose on larger open slick rock sections. On such open slick rock the light to nonexistent trail traffic meant few trail indicators had built up. Given that, I could not always immediately locate where the trail picked up on the other side. Not insurmountable. Just needed to calmly scout, and to not just push on if where I was going veered wildly from the GPS track and otherwise didn’t feel right.
Two spots of note relative to trail tracking issues. One was near the end, in the forest at the point the trail reconnects with Brin’s Mesa. There, the trail seemed to vanish for a good bit. Nominally, the trail per GPS guide should have weaved through the forest back and forth across a wash. I couldn’t find it. But the GPS map showed Brins Mesa sat straight ahead a few hundred feet. So I just proceeded down the wash and through the forest, and yes hit Brin’s Mesa. A second spot arose at the southeast most point of the hike. There, the trail must do a u-turn to go back up towards the northwest. One might assume (or at least I assumed) the trail would run outside and around the end of the cliffs and spires that rise above the trail all along. So I looked for the trail around that outside. Not correct. After some scouting, I found that the trail turns up into the cliffs and spires, to a point between a slot between two spires, then plunged down the slot.
These two trail gaps no real issue, just a bit of reconnoitering. But this does say not the best trail for someone wanting a stroll, or not comfortable trail scouting to find the way, or someone looking to navigate out by headlamp after a sunset viewpoint. And of course someone not liking ledges. But otherwise, a nice morning day-hike adventure. |
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Route Editor
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