Sedona hiking

There are miles and miles of trails in and around Sedona. Today we drove into the Oak Creek Canyon area to hike the West Fork trail. It was pretty windy and cool when we left Cottonwood, but as we climbed up Oak Creek Canyon, we watched the temperature falling. By the time we got to the trailhead, it was 51 degrees and still very windy.

We walked about a quarter of a mile, passing patches of snow on the ground, and came to a stream crossing. There were lots of people with big sticks slowly trying to make their way across the stream over logs piled up to make a bridge. The trail description said the trail crossed a stream several times, which involved a few stepping stones or a few inches of water. It was more like a few feet, and very precarious looking. I had a minor panic attack half way across and was afraid I wouldn’t make it, so we turned around. Jim and Debbie weren’t too disappointed not to continue, either. It really was cold!!
So back towards town and a search for a warmer trail. We did manage to find the trailhead for the Jordan trail, supposedly a 2 mile loop. It was beautiful, as is most of Sedona, and much
warmer.

We had great views of many different red rock formations.


And what looked like a wild cactus garden.

The trail ended at the Devil’s Sinkhole, and a jeep road where we got to watch several rental jeeps maneuver the rocks.

Of course, the trail turned out not to be a loop, so we had to backtrack the way we came. Luckily it was so pretty we didn’t mind, but I do need to remember not to leave the trail map in the car again!