Slowly going down a road that I have traveled a few times before. I am heading to Passage 43 of the Arizona Trail, for many this is actually either the beginning or the end of trekking along the entire route. For me though, being alone, I can only do out and back sections of the…
Tag: hiking
A Labor Day hiking loop around Sedona
The unexplainable pull to walk returns. It’s Labor Day weekend, but up in Sedona the temperatures will still reach 100 degrees by noon, if not sooner. Best to start early, and so I arrive at the trailhead just after five A.M. I only had a vague idea of the hike I wanted to do, and…
Enter Sabino canyon
The monsoon clouds threatened the landscape as I made my way over to Sabino canyon. I could sense the danger in my bones, which only heightened my early morning experience. I couldn’t see any rain coming through, so I hit the only road leading into Sabino as daylight starts to break over the horizon. My…
Greer
Being labeled by many as a world traveling man, I always get asked if I’ve been to places others are thinking about going to…. One place in particular is the small, remote Arizona mountain town of Greer up in the White Mountain Apache Reservation area. Somewhere I hadn’t made it to for many reasons, but…
The Great Island Trail
My first few days of exploring Cape Cod had culminated into one defining moment, The Great Island Trail. Research indicated that this is the longest and most difficult hiking trail on the Cape, due to soft sand, high tides and some log steps. It also offered views of Cape Cod Bay, Wellfleet Harbor and a…
Kachina
Winter’s grasp is loosening it’s hold on the mountains above Flagstaff. I head to the Kachina trailhead to see how far I can get on this Spring day, with the goal being to traverse the San Francisco Peaks and make it to Mount Humphrey. Bears are emerging from hibernation, new elk calves stay close to…
Red Mountain Volcano
Over the years as I have driven the lonely road between Flagstaff and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, one feature has always piqued my curiosity. A seemingly out of place lonely red mountain rising up from the high desert sagebrush and tumbleweeds that dot the plateau. The Red Mountain Volcano. It always seems…
Yaqui Ridge
I leave the Coronado Cave and jump back on the dirt road that seems to wind up the mountainside. I reach the top to find that the road ends, but connections to the Arizona Trail head both North and South. I choose to go South. It’s only been a few weeks since our country has…
Coronado Cave
The Coronado National Monument is an area I pass by when traveling to Bisbee or Douglas. When I heard that the Arizona Trail also traverses across this area, I went to go do some exploring myself. The light appears to be shining at the end of the long and dark Covid tunnel. I’m fully vaccinated…
Boynton Vortex
It’s been a few weeks, more than enough time for the snow that came ripping through the area last month to have melted away. Back to Sedona I go, with the plan this time around being to venture deep into the Boynton Canyon Vortex. Although I arrive early (7 a.m.) the parking lot at the…
The Birthing Cave
It’s just before 7 a.m. and the lyrics to “Mother Earth” are rolling around my brain as I hope to find the Birthing Cave out in here in Sedona. “You know when you’re bornYou first see light of dayThrough a gap in your mother’s legsIt’s the truthAnd from that minute onMost of us guysAnd some…
Long Canyon Vortex
The storm that I could feel approaching in my bones while camping in Colossal Cave came the day after I left. It covered most of Arizona in a blanket of snow, and if you have never seen Saguaro’s under a blanket of white, I highly recommend it. Snow never lasts long though here in the…