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| Hiking | 1.50 Miles |
750 AEG |
| | Hiking | 1.50 Miles | | | |
| 750 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Wow! What a (previous) day. I was up in Camp Verde for a few days doing yard work, when the monsoons moved in. It poured! Saw some of the best lightning (and thunder) that I’ve seen in a long time. It was still raining when I got up on Wednesday. Trying to find a trail that wasn’t going to be inundated in mud was a challenge. I settled on Cathedral Rock. It doesn’t get much rockier than this. It was still sprinkling when I got on the trail around 5:30.
It’s been 7 years since I’ve done this trail. A lot of things have changed. Parking has always been challenging at this TH and Sedona now has signs stating that the parking is closed from Thursday to Sunday and that you either need to use a different TH or take the shuttle to reach this location. (I went on line to read about this and the site I went to said “that if the shuttle is operating, then the parking lot is closed and you will need to take the shuttle.” The shuttles operate Thursday-Sunday from 7am-5:30pm. I’m not sure if this means the parking is open before and after those times. I would assume so). Not an issue for me, since it was 5am on a Wednesday  When I got there, I was the second car in the lot.
The other thing that has changed are the stairs. They have installed three different sections of stairs along the route. And added rope railings to try to keep people on course and from wandering. The trail is still very well cairned, with white arrows on the rocks and now with the ropes it is practically impossible to get off trail. If in doubt, simply follow the conga line of hikers. Luckily, this was not an issue this morning. The rain probably helped. Sprinkled for the first 20 minutes as I made way up the red escarpment. I actually had to cross a stream at the TH and there were several spots where water was trickling down the red slopes. One of them being the crevice you climb going between shelves. I was a little worried about the slickness of the rock, but it wasn’t bad either direction. I was fortunate to have the top to myself. I did some wandering, taking in the views. The cloud dynamic added a great twist to already fantastic views. Coupled of spots I got down on my backside, but a surprisingly smooth descent. As I was heading down the conga line was forming going up. Interesting, in watching people deal with the red slopes and the bottleneck at the crevice. I saw some hem and hawing and head scratching with the families going up. I wonder how long it will be before they put railings all the way to the top 
Nice hike. No mud on this trail  Beat the crowds. No wildlife. Definitely deserving of more frequent visits. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
