North America Archives - Page 22 of 74

Happy Hiking: Granite Mountain

After a lovely night on Thumb Butte Road, the following morning Annie and I drove to Granite Mountain Trail about half an hour north. Along with Thumb Butte Road, Granite Mountain Trail is located in the Prescott National Forest. Granite Basin Lake is nearby, so there are a variety of parking areas for the beaches and boat launching. There is also a parking area with bathrooms at the trailhead as indicated by AllTrails.

Granite Mountain Trail

The trail begins in forest which was appealing to me. I prefer evergreens over cactus and scrub. Annie enjoyed it too, once again running around like crazy. Sometimes I wonder how she can have so much energy. She exhausts me while I attempt to exhaust her!

HAPPY HIKING!

Happy Hiking: Thumb Butte

After my visit to Sedona and Camp Verde, I traveled south to Prescott. I swung through briefly ten years ago on my year long road trip around the USA, and wanted to revisit. Thanks to a National Geographic guide I met on a Mongolia trip, I had insider’s information on where to camp.

Camping on Thumb Butte Road

Liam, who went to college in Prescott, suggested I camp anywhere on Thumb Butte Road. It is just outside of Prescott and was a great suggestion! Small, designated pullouts lined the potholed dirt road. And it was just steep and rutty enough to keep the big rigs out.

HAPPY HIKING!

Top Things to Do in Sedona

Sedona is an Arizona desert town near Flagstaff that is surrounded by red-rock buttes. The town of 10,000 is noted for its natural beauty, relaxing energy, and active arts community. There are many things to do in Sedona which attracts tourists by the hundreds, especially in the spring with its mild climate. Below are a few things to enjoy while visiting Sedona.

EXPLORE!

Happy Hiking: Chapel of the Holy Cross

While in Sedona, I hiked the Bell Rock Pathway and the Airport Mesa Viewpoint which are the locations of two of the four earth vortexes. I had hoped to also get Cathedral Rock into the mix, but luck wasn’t going my way Monday morning. I ended up at Chapel of the Holy Cross.

I just wanted to do two short hikes today, before attending to VANgo’s needs (a water tank and propane fill) and picking up groceries. As a result, I began the day by driving to the parking area for the 1.2-mile hike to Cathedral Rock, as indicated by AllTrails.

HAPPY HIKING!

Top Things to Do in Camp Verde

Camp Verde is located 27 miles south of Sedona in Yavapai County, Arizona. The town of 11,000 is quiet, offers friendly service, and is a gateway to many tourist activities. I was surprised to find out how much there was to do nearby Camp Verde.

I was camping on Forest Service 579 just 11 miles north of town when I ventured that way in search of propane given the following day forecast of 47 degrees and rain. Since I’m in the trial run with VANgo, I didn’t have a sense of my propane use.

After calling many places, I finally reached someone at Ace Hardware who suggested the Camp Verde Feed Store. The service couldn’t have been nicer, and when I told Joey, who filled my tank, that it was going to be cold and rainy tomorrow, he asked, “Where?”

EXPLORE!

Happy Hiking: McDonald Trail

When I stopped by the Camp Verde Visitor Center to check out the museum, Lynette greeted me with a wealth of knowledge. She wanted me to have a map. I pointed to the map in my hand, and I said, “I have this one.”

She replied, “That’s the trails map. Here is the other.”

While there, I learned lots of things about Camp Verde, but also, that the McDonald Trail features a bunch of Indian Ruins.

HAPPY HIKING!

Happy Hiking: Copper Canyon Loop

Having lots of flexibility has spoiled me, and I do my best to skip weekend hiking and only go during the week when it is more peaceful. The exception is when I hike with friends who only have the weekend off.

With two days of bad weather this week, however, I had an itch to get outside. After having hiked near Camp Verde and near Sedona, I noticed the crowds didn’t exist in Camp Verde. As a result, I took a weekend hike at Copper Canyon Loop Trail #504 that I found on the AllTrails app.

HAPPY HIKING!

Airport Mesa Sunset

I’ve followed many threads about Sedona on a Facebook Travel Group. It seems almost weekly someone asks for the tops things to do in the Sedona area. Almost always, someone comments to watch the sunset at the airport mesa. Additionally, there is also an earth vortex at the airport. As with Bell Rock, also a “masculine” vortex, meaning the energy exits the earth at this location.

While normally I prefer early morning hikes, I wasn’t sold on hiking in the morning, going back to my campsite for the afternoon near Camp Verde, and then going to the airport later. As a result, I planned on killing two birds with one stone by hiking the 3.2 mile airport loop trail and then watching the sunset.

WATCH THE SUNSET

Happy Hiking: Big Park to Bell Rock Path Loop

The Vortexes

Sedona, Arizona is known for its healing earth vortexes. Yes, they say vortexes, not vortices. Anyway, a vortex is believed to be a special spot on earth where energy is entering it or exiting it. Sedona has four vortexes, one of which is Bell Rock.

As a result, Bell Rock, located just north of the Village of Oak Creek, is an extremely popular hiking destination and easily reachable off scenic Highway 179. With spring break in full swing for many states and the popularity of Bell Rock, I arrived to the large, paved parking lot by 7:15am on a weekday. Fortunately, I had a prime selection of spots with only a few cars in the parking lot.

HAPPY HIKING!

Happy Hiking: Seven Sacred Pools

A very popular hiking destination in Sedona is called the Seven Sacred Pools. It is located in the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness and may be reached by the Soldier Pass Trailhead or Jordan/Cibola Pass/Brins Mesa Trailhead.

Getting to Seven Sacred Pools

It is very hard to find parking at the Soldier Pass location, thus I started my hike at the Jordan/Cibola Pass/ Brins Mesa Trailhead.

This is a fee area ($5 daily, $15 weekly), and the machine takes credit cards if you do not have a National Parks Pass. Do not park on the side of the dirt road, or you will be ticketed! I heard you can pay a local to shuttle you to the trailhead, but I didn’t try this. I just got up early.

HAPPY HIKING!