Karen HealeyWe arrived bright and early from Flagstaff to Sedona. We had heard that it was difficult to get into the parking lots for the hikes in the area and it was best to get there early. The drive was spectacular and as we approached, we got more excited about this part of our trip. The route between Flagstaff and Sedona travels through the Coconino National Forest, and it turns out, all the hiking in Sedona is part of this National Forest, which, for us, meant free parking with our America the Beautiful Pass!
For our first hike, we were on the Broken Arrow Trail at 7:57 am! I’ve never hiked so early in the morning before, but once we got going, I didn’t want to stop. By the end of the first day, we had hiked a total of 8 miles, a new record for me.
Our second day of hiking, some climbing was involved. We started out at Bell Rock and our approach, which was about a mile, was mesmerizing. I THOUGHT that we were just on a trail around the rock, but as we got closer, I realized we were going up. At first, it wasn’t too bad and the trail was clearly marked with rock filled cairns, but then the trail became less obvious and more difficult. At a certain point, it became too much for me because I am somewhat afraid of heights and my knees are not the best. Steve was determined to keep going so I just sat down and enjoyed the view while waiting for him. It turns out that the spot where I stopped was actually the spot where most people turn around, so I didn’t feel too bad. Some more experienced climbers/hikers go all the way to the top. Fortunately, Steve didn’t go too much further because it was becoming too much, even for him! I marked up of the pictures up below with arrows so you can see how far we each made it. Fortunately, going down was easier than up, but I’ll admit that some of it was done sliding on my butt!
After lunch, we did another hike, this time around Pyramid Mountain. It actually DID go around the mountain, but there was some climbing involved. I really liked this hike and the views were, again, just amazing.
We hiked a total of 6 miles on day two, for a total of 14 miles in just two days. Tomorrow, we arrive at the Grand Canyon, and I can’t wait to share those pictures with you!
