Posts Tagged With: Sedona Arizona

Maine or Bust 2022: With a little help from our friends – Week 2

Posted on March 21, 2022 by carryoncouple.com

Friends Kathy and Doug joined us for three days, helping us kickoff our two-week stay near Sedona, Arizona. A 5 1/2- mile hike up the Brins Mesa Trail and down Soldiers Pass Trail got us a closeup view of some of the gorgeous red cliffs and rocks that Sedona is famous for.

The Brins Mesa Trail rises 500 feet up to a mesa where hikers enjoy a view overlooking Mormon Canyon and Soldiers Pass.
We wrapped up our visit with Kathy and Doug with a birthday celebration dinner at The Tavern Grille in nearby Cottonwood, Arizona.

On our own and looking to avoid the crowds, Reg and I drove a few miles south in search of the Copper Canyon trailhead outside of Camp Verde. We were pleasantly surprised with the 3.9-mile hike. Believe it or not, sometimes it’s nice to escape all that beautiful red rock.

So, on this rainy afternoon, week 2 is winding down. We expect to explore more of the dusty Sedona trails as week 3 unfolds. Check back and I’ll let you know what we discover.

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Chasing the Hogs

Posted on April 15, 2019 by carryoncouple.com
We enjoyed clear blue skies as we set off on the last big hike of our Sedona stay.

Early Saturday morning was the perfect time to search for Sedona Hogs we’d read about…a group of trails, linked together (called the Hogs) that would lead us up and over the backside of one of the large red rock outcroppings.

The Hog Heaven view was pretty spectacular, but we still had more climbing to do.

After winding our way up along the forested Hogwash trail, we reached an intersection that had us scrambling up a section of rocks to join the Hog Heaven section of our hike.

Reg steps out…High on the Hog.

The high point of the trail, aptly named High on the Hog, opened onto a expanse of massive dome-shaped rocks offering a never ending view of the valley below. As we continued on, looping our way back to the parking lot, our peaceful morning was interrupted by a string of people and convoy of jeeps parading toward us from the opposite direction. Time to leave the Hogs behind us!

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Hidden Treasures

Posted on April 12, 2019 by carryoncouple.com
Today our adventure took us well off the beaten path.

We bounced down six long miles on a dirt road today, determined to visit the Palatki Heritage Site, one of the two largest cliff dwelling sites found among the red rocks in the Sedona, Arizona area.





After a short walk up through the trees to the bottom of the cliff, we reached the ruins of the ancient Sinagua people who lived in the area from 1150 – 1300 A.D. A ranger was on hand to explain a little bit of what is known about the lives of cliff dwellers.

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A Teacup and a Chimney

Posted on April 11, 2019 by carryoncouple.com
The day began on the Teacup Trail.
Our plan was to reach the Thunder Mountain Trail which would lead us around Chimney Rock and up to a viewpoint.
We managed to reach the base of the chimney.

While the trail up to the base of the chimney stack was well-worn and doable, it wasn’t easy. We later realized that what we scrambled up was an informal (not on the map) trail and not the recommended viewpoint we had been searching for. However, the view we had was pretty darn good!

Looking out over Sedona and beyond to the Red Rock Scenic Byway.
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A View From The Top

Posted on April 8, 2019 by carryoncouple.com
The Brins Mesa Trail led us on a 500 foot climb.
A chiseled red rock stairway appeared.
After 1.5 miles of climbing, we reached Brins Mesa and a 360 degree view. First, we looked back at where we’d come from. That’s the town of Sedona in the distance.
Then we turned around to view the landscape well beyond our trail.

We followed the Soldiers Pass trail, dropping down to connect with the Jordan trail and then Cibola Pass, leading us back to the parking lot. Above are some of the spectacular sites we saw. Although we got an early start, the trail down was crowded enough to be just a little frustrating in spots. Our advice: Set your alarm if you have to…the earlier start, the better!

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Boynton Canyon Vistas

Posted on April 5, 2019 by carryoncouple.com
A short path off the main trail led to a vista point.


We normally prefer circular hikes that allow us to avoid retracing our steps, but there was only one way out of Boynton Canyon…at least only one safe way out. We followed the dusty red trail in until it dropped us down into the forest, beneath a cover of evergreens. Climbing began toward the end of the trail where we scrambled up a narrow channel of boulders, emerging onto a large, smooth rock outcropping, scattered with handful of other determined hikers enjoying the view.

A lunch spot with a gorgeous view greeted us at the trails end.


I try to remember to stop and look up every so often when hiking rather than carefully watching where I put my every footstep. The views were on our return trip were incredibly rewarding.

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Montezuma Castle National Monument

Posted on April 2, 2019 by carryoncouple.com
The Verde Valley was once home to the Sinagua people – pre-Colombian cliff dwellers.

We took the day off hiking to explore several sites just a stones throw from our RV park. First stop: Montezuma Castle National Park where the cliffs hold the history of the Sinagua people, cliff dwellers who populated the area from 1100-1425. We thoroughly enjoyed the park, but were glad we arrived early. The relatively small parking lot filled quickly.

Montezuma Well is a natural wonder.

Our next stop: A natural limestone sinkhole surrounded by lush vegetation. Montezuma Well appears as an oasis in a desert setting. An incredible 1.5 million gallons of water bubble up each day from this natural spring so it’s easy to understand why the waters have been used for irrigation since the 8th century.

These are just a portion of the 1,032 petroglyphs covering the rock wall.

Our third and last stop was the V-Bar-V Heritage Site, home to the largest collection of Sinagua petroglyphs in the Verde Valley. It was a pleasant stroll out to the site where a ranger was ready and waiting to provide a history and explanation of the ancient art.

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Red Rock Thrills

Posted on April 1, 2019 by carryoncouple.com

This was the high point of our hike.

The HiLine trail took us up, down and all around Cathedral Rock, connecting us with the Baldwin Trail and then to the Templeton Trail, an 8-mile Loop that took us back to where we began.

Feeling small among the rocks near Sedona.

Back on the valley floor after circling Cathedral Rock.

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