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| Hiking | 24.55 Miles |
4,615 AEG |
| | Hiking | 24.55 Miles | 8 Hrs 44 Mns | | 2.81 mph |
| 4,615 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Belated post. Memories are bit faded….almost 3 weeks since I did this hike. Had a 4 day weekend. This seemed like the perfect way to start it.  Got started a little before 7am. Parked on the side of road and only had to dodge a few cars as I made my way to N. Wilson Mountain trail. The climb up is steep and the lower sections were slightly overgrown from all the monsoon rains. But very beautiful and at this time of day well shaded. Hit the “bench” where north and south trails meet and decided to head on up to the top to hit the scenic overlook of Sedona. Not as steep as I remember it. But once again patches of the trail were slightly overgrown. Brief flirtations with pine trees on the way up, but not as many as you might hope for. Crossed paths with a tarantula ….which for me, is a surprisingly rare encounter. Only the second wilderness viewing. Shared the overlook with two other early bird hikers before heading down a very rocky S. Wilson trail and taking the Jim Thompson trail over to Cibola. Thompson is a nice mixture of the Sedona red rock in the beginning and shaded pine forests at the end. Stopped briefly at the Cibola TH to rest and discovered that my Garmin had stopped working. ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") . I don’t think I lost too much data. I got it going and continued on. Cibola is a short trail, but one of my favorites. A little elevation and great interaction with the surrounding terrain. Sedona at its best. Next up was Soldier Pass. Busy, but that was no surprised. The further I went the less congested it became. Thought briefly of visiting the arches, but decided to forego the experience. Little bit of a climb up to Brins Mesa, but got lucky with clouds and a steady breeze which made it quite enjoyable. Brins is just an ok trail, especially when compared to other Sedona trails. However, going this direction….downhill and some nice shady sections made me appreciate this part of the loop more. Brins trail took me to Dry Creek Rd (FS 152). I’ve hiked this road before and this stretch seemed a lot longer than I remember it. Definitely, the low point of the loop. During this stretch I got passed by 6 ATV’ers, coming and going. All were considerate enough to slow down as they passed so as not to “dust me”. Next came Vultee Arch trail. This was the only trail in the loop that I had never done before. Nice single track. Easy to follow, but slightly overgrown. Climbs gradually as it makes its way to the arch. I was feeling a little tired by this point and didn’t have the gumption to visit the arch up close  . Vultee flows right into Sterling Pass trail. Great trail. Nice views of canyon walls rising up on either side with patches of shade as you make your way up to the pass. Stopped a couple of times to “admire the views”. Heading down Sterling Pass, met my first hikers since Soldier Pass. Great views, but foliage overgrowth made catching the views a little more challenging. Going down, discovered my Garmin had stopped working again. . I was in the practice of checking it periodically, so I don’t think too much data was lost. I had to walk the road a little bit to complete the loop, Busy. Not the best time to be walking roadside (3pm), but made it safely. Great loop! Nice to get this box checked. |
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