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| Hiking | 6.71 Miles |
1,563 AEG |
| | Hiking | 6.71 Miles | 3 Hrs 32 Mns | | 1.90 mph |
| 1,563 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Morning hike in Sedona. This hike was suppose to have a two-fold purpose. One was to scout the Jordan Trail and other nearby trails for a future hike with friends and family. (One of the friends is a young girl named Jordan who is celebrating a birthday and I thought this might be a nice outing that the whole group could do). The other purpose was to visit Soldiers Cave, which I had never visited before. Mixed results. 
Got to the Jordan TH around 5:30am. A full moon made and early morning light provided more than enough light to hike with. Initially, the Jordan Trail is a mediocre Sedona trail. It parallels the entry road for the first .45 miles and then is very obviously a “fringe” Sedona trail; thanks to powerlines, a power station and nearby homes. However, a .8 you pass the Javelina Trail and eventually lose the powerlines and the Sedona landscape becomes unfiltered by man’s presence. I threw on the signed “Anthill” Trail. This adds about .6 miles to the hike and I think is a worthwhile excursion as it provides fantastic views of the surrounding for very little effort. This trail does a loop and there are two ascent points to the top of the hill. Both are about .2 miles from the Jordan Trail. Continuing on, it is about .6 miles to reach the Devils Kitchen, which is just past the end of the Jordan Trail. With the Anthill, it was about 2.34 miles to reach this point with around 300 feet elevation gain. (I figure if we took the Cibola Trail back it would be a 4 miles hike with about 500 feet elevation). Hopefully, this will be doable and enjoyable for all. Success!
My other purpose, Soldiers Cave, had me continuing past Devils Kitchen. I’ve never been to the cave before so I wasn’t sure exactly where it was, but I like to think of myself as an accomplished “trail hunter”. I figured I would be able to identify an obvious use trail that took off to this attraction. I’m guessing that I jumped too early. I left Soldier Pass Trail about .6 miles past the “Kitchen” and I read later that it might be closer to .9. That seems pretty late in the canyon, but I don’t think I missed the turnoff in the first .6 miles and I know it wasn’t where I turned off.  That being said, I thought I had a good chance of stumbling across the route as I climbed towards the canyon wall. No luck. However, as I was climbing I identified a couple of spots that looked to provide access to the top of Brin’s Mesa. I managed to bushwhack and scramble to the top. Fun! I walked along the edge for a bit, but couldn’t discern any cave or obvious use trail beneath me. Since I was bushwhacking, I decided to throw on the small “hill” just west of the Brin’s Mesa Trail. The “hill” was a little more challenging than anticipated, but I eventually made it to the top. I discovered that when I made it to the top that my Garmin had stopped working, so I’m not sure about the mileage for this hike. Typically, my Garmin creeps when I’m not moving and I was doing a lot of route evaluating while off trail so I’m hoping the mileage is close. After taking in the views, I made way down to the Brin’s Mesa Trail and took that back to the TH.
Though not exactly what I anticipated, still a great hike. (When is a hike bad. ). Great weather. Little chilly at the start. In the 50’s. Encountered 17 hikers, all except 1 on Brin’s. No wildlife. |
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