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| Hiking | 2.91 Miles |
963 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.91 Miles | 2 Hrs 2 Mns | | 1.43 mph |
| 963 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | One of the benefits of doing yard work in Camp Verde is that I have Sedona and its trails practically in my backyard. Yard work is not so bad when you can throw in a hike. My wife is always surprised at my willingness to come to Verde to maintain the property.  I didn’t get up there quite as quickly as I had hoped, but I was still on trail by 5:30am. Actually felt a little chilly at 60 degrees. Parked at the pullout as described in the trail description. I put out my ABT card just in case, but I wouldn’t think a pass would be needed to park there.
The trail is pretty much as described. It was about .3 miles of relatively flat trail that bordered the road and then it was about .4 miles of aggressive climbing. At first I thought it was going to be a dry water channel hike, with all the annoying round stones that come with it. But it quickly changed to compact dirt intermixed with a sandstone like staircase. The trail was easy to follow, though it was overgrown in places with what I think was Gambel Oak. At .7 the trail hits the flat shelf and goes east for a short distance before dropping down. The views are pretty nice in all directions and as you hike you realize that you are on a jutting peninsula with a decent drop off on both sides. This shelf ends abruptly and if you didn’t know any better and weren’t looking, you might think the trail ends there. But the trail drops down the north side of the shelf bringing you to the peepholes. Very unique formation. The trail continues east for a ways holding its elevation before coming to the slope of the mountain. At first it is similar to your previous climb, sandstone stairs intermixed with a gradual climbing dirt path. And then, from about 1.0 to 1.2 the trails gets very aggressive with its elevation with a smooth, steep dirt slope. Not bad going up, but a potential ski slope going down. (Similar to the Praying Hands Trail in the Supes). By this time you have entered the forest and pine trees surround you. Once you reach the top, the trail becomes a little fainter, but it is a quick commute to the canyon’s edge. The views are pretty nice, but not quite as astounding as I had hoped. I didn’t see any cairns on the trail, but the trail was obvious throughout so I wasn’t looking for them. I was tempted to enjoy the woods and explore a bit, but I did have a yard waiting for me in Camp Verde  .
Neat hike. The top of the trail was pretty steep going down. I grabbed a branch to use as a pole and the descent was very manageable. No wildlife, no other hikers. I had the trail to myself. The trail had some color, which I tried to capture. Surprised by the number of pine cones. They seemed to gravitate to the trail. Going up, there was a constant crunch as I trod amongst them. Going down, I came close to a “death by pine cone” as I caught three at once on a slope. That would have been one for the books. |
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