TUESDAY, 10/9

 

TUESDAY, 10/9:

     Our last day in Sedona, as well as of this wondrous trip.  It’s time to go home!

     But not before one last hike.  And what a hike to take as our final one!  It was fantastic!  It was the hike we thought we’d do yesterday, but quickly changed our minds when we saw the Disneyland line to get a parking place. But so glad we followed the Ranger’s advice and got there early (at least relatively so).  Once again, were treated to that wonderful drive up Oak Creek Canyon, and arrived at the parking area right about 10:00 (after leaving the RV an hour earlier).  We were the last vehicle that made it in the parking lot before the attendant marked it “Closed,” and the wait began for those shut out for someone to leave.

     Hit the trail about 10:15.  The trail traverses the Oak Creek Canyon for almost 3 ½ miles one way, before the canyon walls close in, effectively ending the trail.   It’s not very difficult – not very steep in most places – but does have some twists and turns and rocky steps to negotiate, as well as requiring fording Oak Creek 13 times (but there were always stepping stones in place, and at this time of year, with the water so low, you needn’t get wet.)  The Forest Service rates the hike “Moderate.”

     It’s a breathtakingly gorgeous trail – certainly one of the best we’ve been on.  The gentle, clear Oak Creek is dwarfed by the massive sheer red rock cliff walls on either side. 

 

 

 

 

 

And some of the rock formations and shapes were just astounding. 

 

 

 

 

 Unfortunately, the camera, without a wide angle lens, just couldn’t capture the immensity of most of the these spectacular rocks.   And then the forest between the canyon’s walls is just beautiful in and of itself, especially this time of year. Autumn’s colors are beginning to show in the deciduous trees, standing amongst the  evergreen firs and pines. 

 

 

 

 

Add the red rock walls, brilliant blue sky (at least some of the time), the creek, and the scenery was just stunning. As I said, the camera couldn’t possibly capture what our eyes were seeing, let alone what our other senses were picking up – the sharp fall scent, the sound of the creek, occasional crickets’chirping. At its best, it could only capture slices of all the extraordinary beauty that we were experiencing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        We took over 3 hours going most of the way (1 way), because we just took a very leisurely pace and stopped and stood in wonder a lot. Towards the end of this 3+ miles, Bill’s legs really started tightening up and hurting, and of course we had the same distance to walk back. So he decided to stop and rest and encouraged me to go on and finish. Which I did – we were only about 15 minutes from the end. I took my time, and tried my hand with the camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

      When I returned, he felt better, but still a felt a little daunted thinking of hiking those 3+ miles back.  But he did great!  So we completed the round trip in a little over 6 hours. I’m pretty sure this is the longest time we took on any one single trail on this trip.  I know it’s the longest in mileage.  We didn’t feel bad that we took this long – as I said, we had no deadline, and no time pressure.   Several other groups we’d met along the trail seemed to have about the same pace, while of course others passed us like we were standing still.

     We’re so glad that we opted to stay this extra day in Sedona in order to hike this trail.  It was just perfectly lovely in just about every way . . . one thing that made it extra pleasant was that when I started to get a little warm, soon there’d be a canopy of trees for shade; if I started to get cool, we’d soon enter an open space where the sun beamed down.  I know that the fall colors have only begun to change, and that their peak is a couple of weeks away.  Still, we were treated to a preview of that, and it was glorious.  I think I exclaimed out loud to Bill at one point, “I love fall!”  It’s easy to see why the parking attendant told Bill when he paid the parking fee that this lot always fills up every day in October; it’s this always popular trail’s busiest month of the year.   

 

 

     On the way out of the Canyon, I asked Bill if he wanted to stop at a casual restaurant on the way home, instead of having leftover Manwich’s.  He agreed, but took it one step further . . . he suggested going back to Elote.  After all, he argued, it’s our last real day of this adventure . . . the rest will just be putting on as many miles as we can in the next 2 days.  So let’s treat ourselves.  Well, twist my arm.

     But we went home and changed clothes first – I, especially, looked a mess – tennis shoes all muddy, T-shirt dirty.  So we got to the restaurant a little after 6:00, and sure enough, just as I’d read somewhere, if you arrive after 6:00, prepare for an hour+ wait.  But the evening air was so lovely out on the balcony, we really didn’t mind.

 

 

  This time, I just got a non-alcoholic Blood orange limeade, while Bill got a dark beer.  Inside, we tried a different salad tonight (skipped the appetizer).  Very delicious.  Then Bill ordered the same entrée as the other night, while I got their Chili Relleno.  Fabulous!  We shared the Mexican Chocolate Pie for dessert.   What a satisfying way to end our stay  here in Sedona, and, indeed, this trip!

     (more to come . . )