Sedona ! Day #1

February 5, 2022 Writing My Story

Friday, February 4th

I decided to skip ahead in the blog and share where I am now and what I am doing now. I will catch up with the other days eventually!!! 🤞😉

I checked out of Lost Dutchman State Park on the east side of Phoenix on January 31st. I drove west and then north to Dead Horse Ranch State Park which is located in Cottonwood, Arizona. 2 1/2 hr. drive. The elevation at Dead Horse is 3,327 ft compared to Lost Dutchman which was 2,000 ft. It is colder up here, especially at night so I tried to get a site here later in the winter. February was as late as I could get because everything was booked solid. It’s a popular Campground because it’s not too far from Sedona.

The drive to Cottonwood, Arizona is a real challenge. You leave Phoenix at 1086 ft and climb to Cottonwood / Dead Horse at 3,327ft. over the Black Hills Mts. of Arizona. There are steep climbs of 4-5 miles that have you alternating between 45 mph, and then downshifting and accelerating up to 55- 60 mph and slowing down to 45 mph again. If it wasn’t for turbo, I wouldn’t have a prayer. (The truck did have its exhaust sensor replace last week and that was the difference between night and day as It regulates the turbo.) Anyway, the same challenge I had when I drove south from Flagstaff. 😲🤦

I arrived at Dead Horse in the afternoon and was very happy to find out that my site was a pull thru! I am in Quail Campground and all of the sites here are pull thrus with water and electricity!! Very, very happy to have both again!! ( I had neither while I was at Lost Dutchman.) So after I went through the ranger check-in, I dumped my tanks and then set up in my site.

The first day I slept in . Then I set about making an actual pot of coffee, microwaving my lunch and using my electric fireplace again. I also put out all my bird feeders because I had an excellent place to do that. And the birds came!!

The last two days the weather has been quite cold. In the evening the overnight temperature was in the teens. (They encourage you to disconnect your water hose at night.) I took in the nature areas that they have here in the park and yesterday went to the city of Jerome which is an elevation of 5200 ft. Old mining City. Great shops, great little town. I’ll have more about that later

Today was the first day with the sun and temps. into the high fifties, so I planned to do some hiking in Sedona. There is a beautiful rock hill that is located near the area of the Sedona airport. It is called the Airport Mesa Summit. I think it is the only place in Sedona while you will have a 360° view of the area. I have not been there before so I decided to take that in today.

Before going on the hike, I needed a high protein lunch so I stopped at McDonald’s drive thru. I noticed the “M” for McDonald’s in Sedona is quite a different color, more in tune with the surroundings! And numerous people were getting their pictures taken in front of those M’s. So here I am!

It wasn’t a very far drive to the Mesa. However the parking in front of the trail is extremely limited! No room at all! So I went further up, turned around, went down to the bottom and was going to make a loop around the airport but couldn’t find the way. When I went back up the same way again, two vehicles were pulling out!! Amazing! So I was able to park right there! I found out later that near the airport summit close to the airport, there is a gravel parking area. It costs $3. There is a trail from there that connects down to the trail to the Summit trailhead where I parked.

***Driving down main street past downtown to the Airport Rd.***

**The beginning of the trail and stone steps to the Summit.**

***The Summit. You can see people on top.***

***A viewing point before you start climbing higher***

**Because of the Wilderness Act passed years ago, this area is protected. This plaque had lots of good information.**

**the path was a mix of climbing on natural rock edges, carved steps into the hill and smooth stone with wire cables to hold onto**

**the last steep part of the climb to the top of the summit**

**and there you are, at the top! All flat stone but at different levels. And yes, the wind was cold that’s why I have ear muffs!!!**

***every direction you look has a beautiful and different View***

***the city of Sedona. You can see how their building codes maximize blending into the environment***

***You can see a trail along the side of the hill to your right. After I went back down, I took that trail next***

**the parking area right by the trailhead can only handle nine vehicles Plus a handicapped parking spot. My truck is way to the left**

***another direction, another beautiful view, and the continuation of Sedona. Beginning to head down…***

**going down steep trails or Hills is much worse than climbing up 😲.**

Airport Loop

**trying to get myself in the picture and low enough to get the sign in as well!! 😂**

Except for the occasional gusts of wind, it was a beautiful day for hiking. I had lots of layers on. They all came in handy. The airport loop, loops around the entire large Hill you saw previously to the right. It’s between a three and four mile loop. I just decided to hike along it to enjoy the view and turn around when I had enough. It was quite a pretty hike with a variety of scenery. It was not a real populated Trail either. I met people coming from either direction but there were long periods of quiet. 😊

you can see the green dots which represent the trail, circling around the airport. The blue dot is where I am on my GPS. It was a nice way to see how far I was along the trail and whether to continue if I was over halfway or turn around if I wasn’t

Come on along the hike with me. I’ll show the changes in the trail and the beautiful scenery along the way. 🙂

**I am on the trail and looking back toward the summit. Most of the trail had quite a steep drop off.**

**at this stage there are taller and thicker brush growing**

**the trail begins to climb and prickly pear cactus begins to appear!!**

**getting a bit narrow and tricky at spots 😬**

**classic Sedona mountains that are climbed in the distance. It was also a localized fire in the foreground that was put out, thank goodness 😲**

**unusual formations and again the city blending into the foreground**

***Cathedral Rock. One of the most beautiful climbs I ever made. I hope to be able to repeat it before I head home***

I took two breaks to enjoy the view, and enjoy my snacks and water. I took this to show the mountain that was behind me during this rest stop. Other times it was much more filled with bushes and trees.

I had been hiking over an hour or more and decided to see where I was on the trail. Since I was not at the halfway point, and when the sun got behind the mountain it was going to cool down a lot, I decided it was time to turn around.

**still enjoying the sun. As soon as you turn around, the view point changes and even the trail looks different.**

**the cacti stood out so much more on the return trip!**

**these dried, wind blown trees are just gorgeous**

**I was much more concerned about sliding and slipping going back down the hill on this Trail. I had forgotten how much it had climbed.**

**finally, back to the beginning at the viewing area and the trailhead 👍**

By the time I finish with the second hike, my legs were just beginning to get tired. My right knee was beginning to get sore as well. That knee is the one that really determines how far I hike in a day.

All in all it was a good hike and a good day. The first of many to come I hope. I will keep you posted and try to keep this up-to-date!

Until next time… 🤗