Taylor Cabin Trail #35 • Hike • Arizona • All Triplogs • HikeArizona.COM

Routes 154
Photos 1,505
Triplogs 266

31 male

Joined Jun 02 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Taylor Cabin Loop, AZ

Hiking		Mar 29 2023
		LJW • Triplogs 266

Hiking	24.84 Miles	4,278 AEG

Hiking	24.84 Miles	10 Hrs 20 Mns	2.89 mph
	4,278 ft AEG	1 Hour 45 Mns Break

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Jumped the gun on this one. Fourth year in a row, keep finding reasons to revisit this loop. This year it was for the big flow. Gage down stream by the Verde confluence said 75cfs. Was a lot lower than the 3000+ from the previous two weeks, but to be honest I still have little frame of reference for those numbers. I do understand, however, the provisional data disclaimer on the USGS website after this hike. Ended up fording the creek over my waist twice. Cold water, fast flowing. As the temps warm and the flow subsides, I think it'll prove a great year for Taylor Cabin and this stretch of Sycamore and all its top tier swimming holes.

Casner Trail, if you're thinking of driving it, was super eroded in the last year. There were tire tracks, so somebody managed to do it, but I can't imagine the set up you'd need for a couple of the switchbacks.

Taylor Cabin Trail is very much deteriorated since March last year. The big washouts are now impassible. More of the route is off trail. It's tough. Damage seemed worse this year. Little snow left up top, but what's there was iced over and tough to get across. By now probably good.

Got down to Sycamore and there were a dozen elk on the other side heading to the water. What was once a wide rocky section of the creek is now a deep mud hole. Water was too high, but I didn't want to head back up TC through the burn. Managed to stay dry by bushwhacking along the south side of the creek. Had to climb through some brush and over the flood debris. Got buzzed by a private helicopter flying through the cliff walls some way down.

Had to get wet to mid shin to get to the crossing where Sycamore Basin is still around. After that I realized I would have to cross again to get to the cabin, and it didn't hit me until later the most difficult crossing would be on Dogie sometime down the trail. Entered the creek to the knee on the rocky banks. The middle went above my waist. As the water shallowed up, it got rockier, and I fell into the creek with my clothes still on. Stumbled up and fell again. Got through it, hustled to the cabin. Earlier, climbing Casner, I saw a car drive in to Dogie TH, and I thought if no one was there by the time I got to Taylor Cabin, the water was too high for them to cross. Took off all my clothes and put them out on the line. The cabin, despite now mostly not having a roof, provided nice cover from the wind.

What a nervous several miles it was up Dutch Kid and down Dogie. To memory, a total blur until the Dogie crossing. Where the trail heads it was deep pools and white water, up stream even deeper pools edging out into cliffs. I found a line. Pulled my pack up my back and strapped the waistband around my chest after packing my warm clothes and electronics inside. Pulled a branch out of the flood debris. Rocky knee depth, and then a wide section nearly chest deep. There was a tree bending with the flow but 1/3rd the way out of the water. Climbed on top and after much consideration dropped my pack down my back and jumped to the shallow water several feet away. Scrambled onto the other bank and got rid of my boots opting for the warm sand. Bundled up and after a long while headed up Dogie.

Met one person on the way who had turned back at the crossing. The trail is in much the same shape as it's ever been. The tanks along the way had the most drinkable water I've seen in them. Awesome day. Would never do again. Great year for it, just got there too early.

	Sycamore Creek at Dogie Crossing	Heavy flow	Heavy flow
	Very difficult to find a line. >waist deep for most, fast flowing

Heavy flow

	Sycamore Creek at Taylor Trail Jct	Heavy flow	Heavy flow
	Water impassably high without swimming. Since the Rafael Fire this crossing is a deep mud pit

Sycamore Pass Tank

76-100% full

3 archives

Mar 09 2022

Routes 154
Photos 1,505
Triplogs 266

31 male

Joined Jun 02 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Taylor Cabin Loop, AZ

Hiking		Mar 09 2022
		LJW • Triplogs 266

Hiking	24.62 Miles	4,419 AEG

Hiking	24.62 Miles	10 Hrs 42 Mns	2.91 mph
	4,419 ft AEG	2 Hrs 15 Mns Break

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I wasn't going to do this loop again this year, but after hiking through the Rafael Fire scar on Yew Thicket Trail a month or so ago, I got nervous about the Taylor Cabin Trail. It's one of my favorites, and since I couldn't find anything out about the damage, I went to have a look, fire maps being as reliable as they are. It turned out both Taylor Cabin Trail and the cabin itself burned this summer, though neither is a total loss.

Casner Mountain Trail is the same as ever until the last few miles to the Taylor Cabin Trail TH. Efforts were made to confine the fire to Casner #8 and above Mooney Canyon in order to prevent the spread to Sedona. The fire didn't cross the road much except at the TH. Walking Casner it looked like while the fire had torched the north rim and Cedar Creek, much of the canyon bottom and forest North/East of Buck Ridge are still green.

The Taylor Cabin Trail TH was burned some. Not nearly as shady. TC Trail starts with some brief switchbacks onto a fairly epic ridgeline. The Canyon to the west and its pockets of fir and pine were completely destroyed. Maybe a half dozen left. From above, the side canyon to the East where TC descends looked burned but encouragingly green. The heavy rains that extinguished the fire caused serious erosion in the side canyon, and the TC Trail has a couple massive washouts. It has many more minor ones, and in general it is eroded and mostly missing. The summer rains widened the creek and filled it in with gravel and sand, and some of the slick rock features are buried. While the forest along the way was not burned completely, almost every tree was touched by fire. It's still a beautiful course but a more difficult one and not quite what it, up until very recently, was.

Sycamore Basin Trail is good from Packard Mesa to a mile or so east of the cabin, that is apart from the section where Dutch Kid now takes its place. This being the case, I rocked hopped down the creekbed. There was flood debris 6 feet up the sycamores. There was only one pool of green water in the shade of a cliff 30-40 minutes east of the cabin. The Cabin was burned by the juniper that hung over its north wall. It took out the wooden frame of the north window, as well as the cypress beams of the roof. The back half of the roof had collapsed, and the rest is on its way. Otherwise it had been cleaned up and emptied out since I was there last year. No water at the cabin, down on provisions. Met a couple guys who had hiked in for a two night trip from Parsons TH.

Dutch Kid was burned, but it was patchy and not too unlike in years past. Sycamore Basin and Dogie were as well, mostly by the junction. Overall the fire damage wasn't too severe. Taylor Cabin needs restoration desperately, but I'm sure it will get it. I thought the Great American Outdoors act or some legislation like it had it slated for some TLC. The real bummer is the damage to the Taylor Cabin Trail. The jewel of the wilderness area doesn't shine as brightly.

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

Dry

Sycamore Creek at Taylor Trail Jct

Dry

Dry

4 archives

Mar 05 2021

Routes 154
Photos 1,505
Triplogs 266

31 male

Joined Jun 02 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Taylor Cabin Loop, AZ

Hiking		Mar 05 2021
		LJW • Triplogs 266

Hiking	24.04 Miles	4,154 AEG

Hiking	24.04 Miles	8 Hrs 43 Mns	3.02 mph
	4,154 ft AEG	45 Mns Break

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Robbers Roost - Sedona

Mooney Trail #12

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One of my favorite hikes of last year, had another go but subbed Mooney Canyon for Casner mountain. Prefer it the tried and true way, but it was nice to have a reason to go back. Started the loop at 7am from Dogie Trailhead. Drive in is low clearance passable, albeit annoying, to the Casner Trail, after that I wouldn't chance it.

Walked back down the road to Casner and cut corners up to Robber's Roost. Got around the corner to a stone's throw away and saw that a couple people had camped in it and were just waking up. Turned around and headed down toward Robber's Roost Tank before heading toward Sebra Tank. Easy walk through the grass with no bushwacking.

After Sebra, headed down to Mooney Trail. Where the route starts on HAZ and RS is, I believe, private property. I think you can drive around via FR 4498 to a legal starting point. I met the trail someways down. The real track is only a hundred yards or so East of the RS track, but I saw a cairn and headed along the old alignment(?). Got caught in a ton of brush and eventually made my way to the creekbed. I found Mooney Trail at a crossing within a mile. Much less scenic way of making the climb as opposed to Casner. The trail leaves the creek just as the pines thicken. Shaves some elevation gain, however.

Best part of the hike for me is the descent on Taylor Cabin Trail. Thick forest of tall, orange pines with a red rock and limestone background plus some narrows near the bottom. Impossible quiet. A little snow, but it's been cleaned up nearly all the way down and was much easier to follow than last year. Nearly all of the deadfall has been recently cleared.

Got to Sycamore creek hoping for water, and found it completely dry. Was around the Parsons TH last week and found it to be swollen with water. Oh well. Didn't try to find the trail until the last mile or so to the cabin. The canyon bottom is so scenic through that stretch it'd be a shame to miss it. That, and last year had a lot of trouble with it.

Had a break around the cabin and hit Dutch Kid. Would like to do the loop next year and stick to Sycamore Basin/the bottom of the creek for that mile and a half to the junction. Would really only want to do it with water. Dutch Kid is well maintained and the views back down the canyon are great. Weather started to feel warm, any warmer and it'd have been too much. Nice breeze all day.

The friend I went with last year and I have been arguing about Dogie for as long. After this trip started to see his point. It's a bit of a slog without the awesome canyon views that are present for the rest of the hike. Saw the only people of the day at the end. Trio of campers headed in with two bottles of water, who weren't sure where they were. Convinced them to turn back before heading home.

Robbers Roost Tank

Dry

Sebra Tank

Dry

Dry

Dry

10 archives

May 02 2020

survivordude

Routes 61
Photos 1,008
Triplogs 224

44 male

Joined Aug 19 2009
The Basin

Taylor Cabin Loop, AZ

Backpack		May 02 2020
		survivordude • Triplogs 224

Backpack	24.37 Miles	4,454 AEG

Backpack	24.37 Miles	2 Days
	4,454 ft AEG

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[ checklist ] Greater Short-Horned Lizard Western Patch-nosed snake

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3rd time’s the charm, I guess. 3 of us had planned on staying at the cabin after a 6 hour hike. Went up Casner first to get it out of the way but it really burned everyone out with the packs on. The trail (road) goes up over the mountain and then rides a ridgeline for a while which is pretty cool because it literally dissects 2 different wilderness areas. Sycamore Canyon to the west and Red Rock-Secret Mountain to the east. J had some pain in his quad but kept pushing on to the Taylor Cabin trail. Hiking down seemed to make it worse for him than the uphill. We were pretty much at the point of no return when he seemed to really slow and started breaking down. Also learned that he drank all his water for the entire trip so far. I took the leadership role and made sure we all stayed positive. Chase and I discussed options. The trail here is really fantastic. It stays down in the bottom of the canyon with very narrow cliffs to either side. After several miles and even more breaks we finally made it to Sycamore Canyon proper. No signs of water. Followed the super easy trail about 1 1/2 mile short of the cabin and we found a huge pool. The range of emotions this afternoon was grand. Elated, we jumped in and had a swim, then pumped gallons directly into us.

Followed the creekbed most of the way to the cabin in the AM and, although not too impressed with the grounds there, the cabin itself was cleaner than my shed at my house. Loved the Sycamore Basin Trail. The canyon is sooo huge and green, I almost got that feeling of smallness and insignificance you get when you hike the GC. The hike out of Dogie was a hot slog, and it has much better views going into the canyon, so we made sure to stop (shade) and just look around once in a while to soak it in.

Finally glad to check this one off, though it was a reminder of great importance to not only make sure you are prepared, but to make sure those in your party are adequately prepared, also.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

_____________________

“There is nothing that exists outside the thought of the immediate moment.”

Feb 06 2020

Routes 154
Photos 1,505
Triplogs 266

31 male

Joined Jun 02 2019
Phoenix, AZ

Taylor Cabin Loop, AZ

Hiking		Feb 06 2020
		LJW • Triplogs 266

Hiking	24.79 Miles	4,554 AEG

Hiking	24.79 Miles	10 Hrs 33 Mns	2.82 mph
	4,554 ft AEG	1 Hour 45 Mns Break

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Friend and I made our first trip into Sycamore Canyon. Wanted to see all that we could so we did the Casner-Taylor-Dogie loop. Went counterclockwise in order to get the elevation gain out of the way first.

FR525 is in great shape, and any car should have no problem. There are spots toward the end on 525c where the road dips that make taking a passenger car a strategic drive. Started at the one parking spot for Casner Mountain trail around 7:30 and headed up. I didn't know this in advance, but Casner trail is at least as much a road as a trail. Follows underneath power lines most of the way. Nice views into Sycamore Canyon and toward Sedona that would be much better at sunset than sunrise.

On the way down Taylor Cabin Trail there were at least two dozen trees fallen over the trail. Overgrown with brush in parts and the leaves and snow obscured the trail. Seemed like a more interesting way to enter the canyon as opposed to the Dogie trail, however.

Once to the canyon floor and across the creek, Sycamore Basin trail is overgrown and a bushwhack. Found it difficult to stay on route. Opted to rock hop down the creek a ways instead. Was nice to be on the creek bottom as after the cabin the trails climb away from it. Caught up with the trail at a creek crossing and it was clearer closer to Taylor Cabin.

Hung out at Taylor Cabin for a while and walked around the grounds. In great shape and well stocked.

Dutch Kid and Dogie were the best maintained trails of the day, and it made the going easy the rest of the way, apart from the incessant ups and downs on Dogie. Only people we passed were backpackers on Dogie around the Sycamore Basin junction and at the only creek crossing farther down the trail.

Medium flow

Sycamore Creek at Taylor Trail Jct

Medium flow

Medium flow

2 archives

Jul 01 2016

NoPal

Routes 2
Photos 31
Triplogs 4

38 male

Joined Jun 04 2016
Sedona, AZ

Casner - Taylor Cabin - Sycamore - Dogie Loop, AZ

Hiking		Jul 01 2016
		NoPal • Triplogs 4

Hiking	23.00 Miles	4,271 AEG

Hiking	23.00 Miles	11 Hrs 20 Mns		2.76 mph
	4,271 ft AEG	3 Hrs Break	19 LBS Pack

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I've wanted to do this loop to Taylor Cabin for the longest time. After a dayhike down Dogie to Sycamore Creek last year and some fooling around on and around Casner this year I did some more homework and opted to do the damn thing from the Casner approach...

After camping near the Casner mountain trailhead, I got an early start just before 6 AM. I opted to drive a little further to the "ROAD CLOSED" gate under the power lines that run up Casner (this is the right of way gate for Casner Mountain). Getting the climb up Casner done first before the heat of the day sets in is recommended. Despite carrying 5L of water the climb wasn't too bad with trekking poles. The views going up are wonderful but the novelty of peeking down into Sycamore Canyon to your left AND the edge of Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness to your right is just fantastic. Pictures won't do it justice...
After spotting Mooney trail snaking up from the edge of RRSM wilderness I came to the junction with both Mooney and Taylor Cabin. The shade of this somewhat overgrown descent was quite appreciated. Taylor Cabin trail is cairned in abundance all the way down to the creek.

I did a dumb thing and boulder hopped ALL THE WAY from Taylor Cabin trail to Dogie trail, stopping at Taylor Cabin with quite a bit of help from Gaia GPS. My entire excursion boulder hopping was exhausting, hot, and dry (I would not recommend) however it did save me the anxiety of bushwhacking and trying to find the cairns marking the trails comings and goings thru Sycamore Canyon. My extra dumb choice was boulder hopping this in running shoes (read: not boots or even trail runners) it would be a hell of a place to slip or twist an ankle... Personally, I can rationalize exhausting and dangerous boulder hopping as "more direct" but ultimately it's just a preference and again, I wouldn't recommend this to another hiker unless as a last resort.

Taylor Cabin was cute. If you go TAKE A COUPLE PENS AND PENCILS. There are no writing implements for the log book. On my visit there was one pan of clear water that had run off the metal roof (about one liter) after the recent light showers in the area. Don't count on seeing water on this loop though, pack enough to safely execute your hike without finding water on the route. I almost packed less water because of the recent showers and I'm so glad I thought better of it. There is a binder with information about Taylor Cabin inside, it's worth flipping through if you like historic details. An intrepid hiker may also find the nearby gravestone of "Jak" (a cattledog I presume), the corral ruins, and adjacent storage cave. During my visit, mice seemed to have set up shop fairly well in the cupboards.

The boulder hop down to the Dogie junction was slow and exhausting. The junction is unsigned and easy to miss as the cairns are spread wide on either side of the wide canyon floor. I set a GPS waypoint on my track for this junction. Dogie trail felt like a moving sidewalk after all the boulder hopping. The trail is in good shape and has plenty of camping spots between the creek and Sycamore Pass tank.

	Sycamore Creek at Taylor Cabin	Dry	Dry
	creek bed and area is dry. one catch pan at cabin had clear water, maybe one or two liters at most

	Sycamore Creek at Taylor Trail Jct	Dry	Dry
	dry despite a few showers over the last 4 days

_____________________

AZT sobo 2016'

2 archives

Apr 07 2012

joebartels

Guides 264
Routes 2,797
Photos 14,494
Triplogs 5,894

55 male

Joined Nov 20 1996

Casner-Taylor-Dutch-Sycamore-Dogie Loop, AZ

Hiking		Apr 07 2012
		joebartels • Triplogs 5,894

Hiking	22.87 Miles	5,200 AEG

Hiking	22.87 Miles	12 Hrs 6 Mns		2.27 mph
	5,200 ft AEG	2 Hrs 2 Mns Break	12 LBS Pack

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This is good loop. Glad I finally got to tackle it after knowing about it for so long. Casner seems under rated to me. The best views of the loop are from the top in my opinion. The sweetest part of the hike is going down Taylor through the thick forest. A lot of dead fall, luckily it's relatively easy to get over. The worst part is from when Taylor enters the creek over to a quarter mile before reaching the cabin. Either friendly or lazy backpackers have left over ten bottles of used coleman fuel in the cabin cabinet. Overall it's a cool little area and well maintained. The most enjoyable part of the loop was on the short Dutch Kid Tank Trail #54.

Believe the only water seen all day was in the creek about a mile ENE of the cabin near-ish 34.996719, -111.973172. Personally I wouldn't count on water down there much ever.

Our temps ranged from 43 to maybe 75. Any warmer at the bottom would have been hot. The rocks radiate the heat back with such little shade.

Wildflowers: one sprig of Dichelostemma capitatum, wallflowers on a couple occasions, indian paintbrush maybe a dozen times and a few other varieties I'm unsure of on the identification

First serious hike now 16 days after the foot injury. At times it wasn't too bad, at times it was quite painful. Obviously not the wisest choice yet I have no regrets.

Wildflowers Observation Light

Dry

Dry

Dry

Dry

Dry

Sycamore Creek at Taylor Trail Jct

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Dry

Sycamore Pass Tank

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_____________________

- joe

Apr 07 2012

The_Eagle

Guides 41
Routes 1,626
Photos 14,983
Triplogs 2,760

69 male

Joined Jan 20 2009
Far NE Phoenix,

Casner-Taylor-Dutch-Sycamore-Dogie Loop, AZ

Hiking		Apr 07 2012
		The_Eagle • Triplogs 2,760

Hiking	23.27 Miles	5,250 AEG

Hiking	23.27 Miles	12 Hrs 6 Mns		2.28 mph
	5,250 ft AEG	1 Hour 54 Mns Break	15 LBS Pack

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joebartels

I've had this loop in mind for awhile now. Time to escape the heat in the valley.
The injured Teva said he would join me, but had two requests.
1) No Rock Hopping - Oops
2) No Bushwhacking - Double Oops

We parked at the Trailhead at the end of 525C and started our 1.25 mile Counter Clockwise road walk over to the Casner Mountain Trail. This is the recommended way to go, (You were right)
getting the major climb out of the way in the beginning of a long day (2000' in 2 miles). The 4 mile walk across the top of Casner Mountain, yielded views that gave you a great overall feel for the Sedona landscape. At some points you are walking on a ridge that's 30' across, with views off both sides.

Be careful when making the turn off Casner Mountain and on to Taylor Cabin trail. The finely groomed trail appears to go straight and to the left. We wasted 20 minutes after it just dead ended. After back tracking, make the semi-hidden right, once off Casner Mountain.

The Taylor Cabin Trail was gorgeous, and reminded me a bit of how the Grandview trail drops into the GC. For the next hour the prominent feature is unnamed peak 6416. During this time, you make the 3 mile steep decent to Sycamore Creek. You'll pass through both conifer and deciduous trees and pass through smooth red rock narrows, while following the drainage.

Once at the bottom, at Sycamore Creek, the trail goes straight across. Two faded Taylor Cabin signs are the only clue. From here to the 1/4 from the cabin, you'll be skirting Sycamore Creek. The trail is almost gone in many places. This is the one area that it'd would have been nice to have long pants. It's a 2 mile hike to the Cabin from here.

Taylor Cabin is a place that has to be seen to appreciated. There's a lot of history there.
The chimney on that fireplace is something I've never seen before. There are some food stuffs, Water in containers, propane, etc stored about. If you feel like doing some cleanup while you are there, please make use of the Wheel barrow and shovels.

From here you take the 8.5 Mile Dutch Kid Tank / Sycamore / Dogie Roller coaster back to the Start. Yep... there are many more gorgeous views along the way....

We finished up just as we were going to need headlamps. We had two other side trips we were thinking for this day, but they will have to wait for another time.

On the way home, Joe talked about his Contractors.
Thanks for joining me, and I'm glad your foot did not fall off.

Fauna

Fauna [ checklist ]

[ checklist ] Teva

Wildflowers Observation Light

Cabin Tank

Dry

Casner Mountain Tank

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Dogie Tank

Dry

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Feb 14 2012

toddak

Guides 13
Routes 38
Photos 1,651
Triplogs 577

60 male

Joined Nov 15 2005
Jackson, CA

Sedona, AZ

Hiking		Feb 14 2012
		toddak • Triplogs 577

Hiking	21.00 Miles	3,000 AEG

Hiking	21.00 Miles	10 Hrs	2.10 mph
	3,000 ft AEG

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Excellent loop up Casner, down Taylor Cabin (tons of downed trees), down Sycamore (endless rockhopping) and out Dogie. Happy birthday Arizona, 100 years and looking great!

_____________________

Mar 19 2011

azflyguy

Guides 1
Routes 3
Photos 337
Triplogs 311

41 male

Joined May 31 2009

Sedona, AZ

Backpack		Mar 19 2011
		azflyguy • Triplogs 311

Backpack	8.00 Miles	1,761 AEG

Backpack	8.00 Miles	2 Days
	1,761 ft AEG

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_____________________

Canyoneering gear beta tester and supplier. Visit http://www.shadowcatadventures.com for canyoneering, climbing, hiking and backpacking gear.

Jun 22 2008

rmoore

Photos 15
Triplogs 49

48 male

Joined Dec 26 2007
Flagstaff, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Hiking		Jun 22 2008
		rmoore • Triplogs 49

Hiking	2.90 Miles	1,761 AEG

Hiking	2.90 Miles
	1,761 ft AEG

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This hike was a good hard hike, espically with the hot sun beating down. Did not bring enough water for the dog so he was hurting more than me. When I got out I came to my truck and it had a flat, so after the tiring hike I had to change a flat. What fun! The views were great and the canyon hiking was great. Next time I will bring plenty of water!

Wildflowers Observation Isolated

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Mar 16 2008

Trailmix

Triplogs 18

48 male

Joined Mar 28 2006
Scottsdale, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Hiking		Mar 16 2008
		Trailmix • Triplogs 18

Hiking	6.00 Miles	1,761 AEG

Hiking	6.00 Miles	3 Hrs	2.00 mph
	1,761 ft AEG

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Nov 21 2007

pbaenzig

Guides 9
Routes 28
Photos 211
Triplogs 20

88 male

Joined Mar 10 2002
Sedona, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Hiking		Nov 21 2007
		pbaenzig • Triplogs 20

Hiking	5.00 Miles	2,100 AEG

Hiking	5.00 Miles	6 Hrs	0.83 mph
	2,100 ft AEG

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We left Sedona around 8am and drove two hours mostly on dirt roads to the trail head. The views were spectacular even at the start: we could look over the Verde Valley and at the same time deep into Sycamore Canyon. The trail descends steeply (but with some switch backs)at the beginning, then levels off a bit as it follows the rocky wash in the side canyon. You pass through several dramatic narrow passages and quite suddenly come to the wide open Sycamore Canyon bottom proper. Cross the wash to pick up the continuation of the trail -- left towards Taylor Cabin, right towards Winter Cabin. The trail crosses the river bed several times and is at times a bit hard to follow. Taylor Cabin is a beautifully maintained stone cabin built (according to inscription in the stone) in 1931. The cabin is very tidy, immaculately clean. Unlike many unattended places, there wasn't any trash.

We had reached the cabin around 1 pm, so we just had a quick snack and started back. We were back up at the trail head shortly after four. On the drive back, it got dark. All forest roads look alike in the dark!

The round trip hiking distance is around ten miles with a CEC of about 2,400 feet. A lot of the hiking is on river rocks. There isn't any water anywhere on the trail. (Taylor cabin had a few plastic containers with water) Long stretches of the trail are shaded, but about half the distance down in the bottom of Sycamore Canyon is in full sun.

We all decided that we wanted to return, but also thought it might be more enjoyable as a two day backpack, with an overnight stay at Taylor Cabin.

The cabin can also be reached from the south via Dogie Trail and Sycamore Basin Trail. Or even longer, from the Parsons Trail trail head via Packard Mesa Trail and Sycamore Basin Trail.

_____________________

Peter B

Oct 21 2007

Vaporman

Guides 3
Routes 4
Photos 8,687
Triplogs 931

46 male

Joined Mar 28 2005
Gilbert, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Hiking		Oct 21 2007
		Vaporman • Triplogs 931

Hiking	20.00 Miles

Hiking	20.00 Miles	10 Hrs	2.00 mph

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I actually ended up doing a loop hike from Dogie TH, down to Sycamore Canyon, up past Taylor Cabin, to the junction with the Taylor Cabin trail, up this side canyon to the TH on Casner Mountain, south along the 4x4 road & powerlines, and eventually down back to the Dogie TH. My guide book list this loop as 18.8m and another site has it as ~20m and having done the hike I'm thinking it's closer to 20ish than 18ish (the NF map isn't the greatest at listing mileage :lol:

). I day hiked this loop clockwise, but I would recommend doing it counter-clockwise to get the climbing up Casner mountain done early plus better lighting for photos as the sun glides across the sky. Taylor cabin is a pleasant place and would make a great backpacking destination. Most would prefer to backpack this rugged remote loop, esp considering I was barely able to squeak this hike out just after the sun set. It should be noted that the NF map shows the trail sticking to the westside of the canyon down around Taylor cabin, but in reality it jumps sides a few times and you could also just boulder hop right up/down the dry creekbed if you prefer.

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Yea, canyoneering is an extreme sport... EXTREMELY dramatic!!! =p

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Feb 25 2007

canyonhunter

Triplogs 1

39 male

Joined Feb 16 2007
Prescott, AZ