Since we decided to try one
last time for the West Fork Oak Creek Hike, we left at 8:00, figuring it was
pretty early and that there was a good chance we would be able to get into the
parking lot while people were still eating breakfast. It was about 60 degrees,
so we dressed in layers knowing that it would warm up eventually.
We drove up to the hiking trail
and discovered that there were only about 4 cars in the lot, so parking in the
lot wasn’t an issue. We planned on doing the entire 3.5 mile hike (one way) and
had the entire morning to do it. As I said in my last blog, this is THE most
popular hike in the area and for good reason. The trail is said to be one of the best trails
in Arizona and one of the top 10 trails in the United States. It is relatively
easy, although there are a few areas with short uphill stepping stones.
There are also numerous stream crossings (at least 13) which are done with
stepping stones and logs which was fun. At the end of the trail is a pool of
water surrounded by cliffs. The leaves were turning, so parts were very
colorful. It was a bit chilly to start, but we warmed up as we went along. The
trail meanders through the woods and was sometimes confusing to follow. There
weren’t many people on the trail this early, which made it very serene. I had
decided not to bring the camera as I didn’t want to carry it 7 miles. Instead,
I used my phone. It took us longer to walk in than walk out, since we were
taking photos and just looking around.
I slipped a couple of times fording the
creek on the way back and got my shoes wet. All part of the experience. If you
are ever in Sedona and can only do one hike, make it this one. It was well
worth the 7 mile, 4 hour hike. As we left, there were at least 10 cars waiting
for someone to exit the parking lot so they could go in.
It
was about 12:30, so we drove back to Sedona and lunch at Chipotle. It isn’t my
favorite place to eat, but it was fast, which is what we wanted. We sat outside
with a nice view of the Snoopy rock and surrounding red rocks. After lunch, we
needed to get some gas and I needed a couple of things at the store for tonight’s
dinner, so we went to the store. We spotted a nearby barber, so Keith went in
for a haircut while I got the items in the store.
We
returned to the condo for the afternoon. Keith took care of some emails while I
did a load of laundry, worked on my blog and started packing. While packing, I
found our missing key card. I had misplaced mine on Sunday and had looked
everywhere for it. It turns out mine wasn’t missing at all. Keith had left his
in his shorts pocket, so we were using mine the whole time.
The
internet is very slow here, which makes it difficult to do things. Keith has
some trouble with his connection and I had to email myself my pictures from my
phone, which took forever to download due to the poor connection, so I worked
on packing while waiting.
After
dinner, we drove out to Oak Canyon to the Verde Valley school for a Stargazing
event. We gazed up at the Milky Way while our guide told us about his telescope
and some other things. We saw Andromeda, the Pleiades, what the call the E-T
cluster, a star nursery, a nebula and a twin star. I saw 4 shooting stars. It
was amazing and I am glad we went.
Waha
2017-10-13
Thank you for the beautiful photos.