Mississippi River Trip: Sedona -The road is not that bad..

After Slide Rock we headed to our National Forest campsite near Sedona, AZ.  It was down a long, tw2isty road that was bordered by high desert and low red sandstone cliffs – quite a pretty drive.  When we got on the road there was a sign warning that it could be rough, but the warning sign was nothing like we’d seen other places – it just suggested that we drive carefully.  In the Black Hills, for example, we saw a sign that warned explicitly NO ACCESS UNLESS YOUR VEHICLE IS 4WD.  Ditto at the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  But this one just said to drive carefully, so we were determined to do so. 

The road was an average gravel road until we made it to the campsite.  We didn’t really like the site, and since we were in a dispersed camping area, we decided to keep looking around, so down the road we went.  At mile 15 we saw a sign that said SEDONA 9.  “Great!” we thought, just 9 miles from Sedona!  Another mile brought us to the edge of the dispersed camping area in the National Forest, but there were no level sites there – the best had a 30 degree slope studded with head-sized boulders.  The first campsite, the one we'd skipped, was just a few miles away, but we decided to head down into Sedona to check the road.  We didn’t want to get set up and then find out that we couldn’t make it back or something like that.  But I also pointed out to Larisa that the road didn't look that bad.  So down the road we went.

Our first stop was the overlook of Sedona,  which is at the top of Schnebly Hill Road and gives a view of Sedona and the valley.  Beautiful view – Sedona shimmering in the distance, red rock canyon on either side, and blood red mesas surrounding it all. We started heading down, and the road started to get a little rougher – the occasional small shelf of rock and lots of potholes.  A big 4WD tour jeep passed us going up, the gaggle of tourists in the rear giving us odd looks.  We began to wonder what was in store for us, but the road, while bad, wasn’t “point of no return” bad.  

I drove slowly and carefully, avoiding the bad stuff and stopping so that Larisa could take pictures.  We came around a corner and bumped down a shelf I didn’t see, and suddenly the road wasbad.  "Point of no return” bad.  Well, not really, but I was getting a little more worried - but I put on my competent driver face and fooled Larisa completely.  I think.  At any rate, I confidently reasserted my position that the road wasn't bad at all.  We decided to press on with our off road adventure.  After all, we reasoned, we’ve got towing if we need it, plenty of water, and Sedona was only 7 miles down the road.  Another tour jeep came by, bouncing and bumping along.  The tour driver looked at me oddly, but waved and drove one.  Down the road we went.

A mile later I was picking my way along from place to place, dropping down the occasional shelf and often riding the edges of ruts to keep the car from bottoming out.  More tour jeeps passed us in both directions, more odd looks came our way.  I decided that the looks had two different meanings.  The people in the back were thinking “Man, I paid $60 a person to be driven up here, and that guy made it in an Impala!”  The tour guides were thinking “Great, we’re gonna have to tow those idiots out later tonight.”  

 In the end we made it down safely – the car did wonderfully – but it took us two and a half hours to go 7 miles, and it was getting dark.  We plotted a course to take us around the hills and back down to the first campsite – an hour of driving.  And we hadn’t eaten.  And we were tired.  We elected to find a paid campsite in Oak Creek Canyon, but everything was full.  We wound up staying at a motel just outside of Sedona.   The sign wasn’t lit, but there was a “vacancy” hanging sign, and the rate was cheap enough.  I called the after-hours number and got a surprised fellow who was willing to honor the posted price.  Larisa and I decided later that most of the units were long term rentals, and that we were probably the first single night guests in a long time.  Nice place though.  After checking into the motel and showering we headed into Sedona.  Neither of us were very hungry, so we decided to just get some ice cream – we’d earned it after our off road journey. 

As we were walking down the strip with our ice cream a vendor called out to me “Hey guy, take that pretty lady on a sunset drive along Schnebly Hill  road  tomorrow!  We’ve got 4WD tour jeeps that can get you there!”

“No thanks,” I replied.  I was up there today.”

“Really?  What tour company did you take?”

“Oh none,” I answered.  “I drove my Impala.”

He gave me a sideways glance, obviously skeptical but not wanting to say anything bad as he tried to sell us on ATV’s, helicopter tours, and several other things, but we’d seen enough of Sedona.  Besides, the road wasn’t that bad.

Mississippi River Trip: Hippie Beach

We drove straight to the beach without considering where we'd camp or what else we'd do.  After so many dry, hot days an ocean of water and a cool breeze was the only thing we had on our minds.  

We wound up at "Ocean Beach", which we immediately renamed "Hippie Beach" after seeing the denizens.   10 seconds after getting out of the car an obviously stoned girl came up to me, offering to buy a cigarette for a dollar.  For a buck I was willing to part with two, so I handed them over and took the paper in return.  The paper turned out to be a little paper bag filled with pot inside.  I guess California is on the barter system now, what with all the budget problems.  I tossed the packet and lamented my loss of cigarettes.

The water was cool and the day beautiful, so we walked down the beach to the pier, then walked the pier to see how the fishermen were doing, and finally back to the car.  Then we hit a Mickey D's for the internet to find a place to stay.  It looked like we picked a bad time - Comic Con was in town and all of the hotels were packed, as were the campgrounds.  We decided to head out of town to the Viejas Indian Reservation to camp.  It was a tad pricy for what we got, but we were virtually alone in the pasture, which was what we really needed - we don't camp well with others.  We decided to spend two nights there, then three in San Diego at a hotel that we were able to make reservations at.

The next morning we lazed around a bit and explored the reservation - not much to see other than a casino and outlet mall.  We had lunch and decided to hit Julian, CA for the afternoon so that we could see a few sights and get our hands on the famous Julian Apple Pie.  The trip took us along a winding road through a state park (the name escapes me).  The park showed signs of recent fire, and there were signs everywhere about no campfires, no smoking, no fireworks - basically no nothing!  We rode into Julian around 5PM and, after dutifully examining the main street for 30 seconds or so, went to get pie.  It's pie people, it deserves attention.

We settled in at the Julian Pie Company on Main Street.  Larisa ordered a slice of apple-berry, and I ordered a slice of the original apple pie.  Both of us got ice cream.  It's apple pie.  It deserves ice cream.  The pies were great, though both Larisa and I thought that there was too much additional sugar in the recipes.  The recipe I make at home doesn't use sugar on the apples, so maybe we're just prejudiced.  Overall, very tasty pie though, and my own recipe could come anywhere near the tender, flaky crust of the Julian Pie Company.  After pie we wandered the streets, poking our head into shops and tourist traps and photo galleries with abandon.  After a couple of hours of this we were all tuckered out and headed back to the reservation for some tea by the campfire and sleep (Viejas Reservation allowed fires, though no place else did). 

As we were sitting at the campfire we heard the drunken sounds of Spanish singing, backed up and harmonized by the howling of dogs.  A group of about 15 Hispanic men and women had set up across the pasture from us and gotten their drunk on, then broke out an accordion and guitar and started singing.  Interestingly enough, when the singing was low and the dogs had been put away, the sound was lovely to hear and restful as heck!  We drifted off to the sounds of Spanish music and awoke to discover that whoever they were, they had packed up and left well before dawn.   We packed our own stuff and went back to San Diego to celebrate Larisa's birthday.

Mississippi River Trip: Phoenix, Gila Bend, Painted Rocks, Yuma

That’s how they came – we’re sort of deadheading to San Diego, but picked Painted Rocks as a stopping point because it will break up the drive into a couple of short days instead of one marathon day of driving, and also because I love the petroglyph sites.  There’s something about standing next to 10,000 years of human history that makes me feel tiny, but still significant.  We made it to the park, but the campsites were unprotected and wind was forecast for the night, so we just walked the loop trail and headed on.

We found a camp spot on a lake near Yuma, but it was a hot night (103 degrees at 10:30pm).  We sweated our way into sleep - disturbed only by a family that came to the lake, little kids and all at 4:00am, stayed for about 10 minutes, and left.  

We headed out as soon as we could get the car packed the next morning.  Next stop – San Diego and cooler days!!

Mississippi River Trip: Lynx Creek, Prescott AZ -Bodies in the bushes...

We decided that we’d seen the best of Sedona along Schnebly Road (we had – 4WD and helicopter tours of that area are pretty much the tourist attraction) so Larisa and I decided to start moving south towards Phoenix and Saguaro National Forest, but first I wanted a day at Lynx Creek.  First of all it sits near Prescott  National Forest and free campsites, and secondly it’s a well known spot to do a little panning for gold, and I had the urge to wrest some wealth from the earth.  Or at least to get a  fleck of gold to bring home.

Lynx Creek is among the most productive placer mining creeks in America, with thousands of documented ounces  of gold coming from the creek bed.  Give the state of Arizona credit – they closed the creek to commercial mining and turned it into a state park that kisses the borders of the National Forest, making the whole area  a wonderful preserve of desert lowlands and lakes.   We found the free campsite easily enough, but couldn’t camp there.  The first good site we found had a yellow ribbon tied around a scrub oak tree.  The ribbon said “Sheriff’s Line – Crime Scene – Do Not Cross” in an endlessly repeating pattern.  Larisa followed the line down the hill a little ways and determined that foul murders had taken place and that we were likely to stumble across another body any second.  So off to the paid campground we went.  (It turned out that no foul murder was committed – the line was left over from when a hopped up kid stole a car and drove it into the forest.)   

It made no difference – we camped in the “safe” pay area so that Larisa could sleep at night.

After we set up camp we went down to Lynx Creek so that I could do a little poking around.  We found a group of five or six guys down by the creek with a camp set up.  The camp had several classifying boxes and buckets and buckets of water, so obviously the group was doing some serious mining for gold there.  We considered stopping for a chat, but they didn’t have the look of friendly chatters about them.  We passed them by and headed a little further down the creek, finding a spot to park and heading to the creek bed ourselves.  The area had been worked pretty well, with most of the big boulders being surrounded by deep digs.  Apparently the big boulders are where it’s at – the gold gets trapped behind the rocks and settles there.  Not all had been “mined”, but most had, and there were several holes along the banks near trees (tree roots apparently hang onto gold too, according to what I’ve read).  I picked a couple of likely looking spots and, since it was getting late, decided to come back early the next morning to do a little digging.

The next morning dawned hot and bright, and I took Larisa for a walk around Lynx Lake before heading down to the creek.  The lake was low – a consequence of the dry creek – but the walk was nice. 

 Larisa rescued a big crawdad that had managed to strand itself in dry area, and I saw some fat trout swimming near shore.  If we hadn’t decided to move on that day I’d have gotten a fishing license for the day.  Halfway around the lake I suggested to Larisa that the trip further south would be too hot for us, and offered to take her to San Diego for her birthday.  She agreed happily – apparently some of her friends told her upon her arrival in the U.S. that she would love San Diego and should go there some day.  Serendipitous that we were within 8 hours of that very place!  We agreed to head out after I went to the creek.

After our walk we went down to the creek.  Since the creek was dry and we didn’t have the resources to do any real panning I just dug my way down to the bedrock near some undisturbed boulders and started filling the 5-gallon bucket we brought with us.  I tried to stay mainly with the black sand and light clay and simply wound up with 5 gallons of dirt to clean.  I’ve decided to do a bit at a time when we stop near places that have water to use.  We’ll have to see if I got lucky or not.  Probably I didn’t but I’m having fun with it so far, and that’s all that really matters to me.

Mississippi River Trip: Kidding around Slide Rock

We didn’t notice how dirty the camp was when we arrived the night before (it was dark when we arrived) but a night of freaky cow sounds and the state of the forest convinced us that it was time to move on.  So move on we did, descending from Flagstaff to Oak Creek Canyon, home of Slide Rock.  Oak Creek Canyon is a masterpiece of nature.  The road takes you right down into the canyon, which is laced with rocky outcroppings, pine trees and, of course oaks.  Through the center of the canyon flows Oak Creek, a spring fed (and cold) stream that trickles its way down toward Sedona.  Halfway down the canyon is Slide Rock State Park

 
 I remember the park from my childhood.  The water has worn down the large rocks into slickrock which, when covered with a little bit of moss, becomes an excellent slide for young an old.  We parked outside of the lot along the road to save the $20 parking fee and walked in, figuring that the hot day would give us all the more reason to take a swim.  A bridge spans the creek before the entrance to the park, and as we walked across it we saw several teens and adults jumping from a cliff into the icy water.  Being photography types, we had to stop for a few pictures.  After a few snaps we decided the angle was wrong and crossed the bridge, then climbed down to the cliff ourselves for several more.  We ended up spending about an hour watching the kids jump and snapping pictures.  The kids (and a few adults) kept calling it the “50-foot cliff” but in reality is was only about 30 feet to the water.  I wanted to take a leap myself, but Larisa put the kibosh on that immediately.  She has a fear of heights that manifests itself by freaking out anytime I go anywhere near something higher than a curb. 

After we tired of picture taking we hit the sliding rocks ourselves for a little bit of fun.  We had a blast!  For me, it was a brief return to childhood, slipping and sliding down the rocks and into the cold pools at the end.  For Larisa it wasn’t a return to childhood, but she certainly acted like a big kid the whole time, whooping and screaming and smiling so brightly it amazed me.  After some coaxing I convinced her to take a leap from one of the smaller cliffs (not much higher than a diving board) and took one myself for the fun of it.  Then we swam, snapped pictures of other jumpers, and decided to move on to Sedona and our new campsite.  All in all Slide Rock was a huge amount of fun for both of us.  I guess we’re both kids at heart.

Mississippi River Trip: Petroglyphs

Mississippi River Trip: Sunset Crater

We left the Grand Canyon reluctantly.  After more than a month of camping we can break down camp in about 15 minutes when we're ready to move.  We took about two hours to pack up at the South Rim, and some part of me thinks that it's because we weren't ready to leave such a beautiful place.


We headed south towards Flagstaff, planning to catch Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument on the way to wherever we were going - we still hadn't completely decided yet.  Sunset Crater is the result of a volcanic episode about 1200 years ago that changed the landscape and caused most of the Native American inhabitants to move on.  The Visitor Center was great, but the park leaves a lot to be desired.

 The main crater is closed because, according to the sign, vandals and people who won't stay on the trail are damaging it beyond repair.  The result is that the park has only two hikes - really walks given the length (1/2 mile and 1/4 mile).  We did both, and were both fascinated by the Lava Flow trail.  It's amazing to think that all of that cool pumice was once flowing rock heated to more than 1400 degrees.  We had a couple of nice walks despite the heat, but both of us were a little disappointed overall.

After Meteor Crater we hit Flagstaff to replenish our food supplies and to camp.  We found a quiet spot in Sitgreaves National Forest.  The campsite was in a small clearing surrounded by stately pine trees and bordered by a National Forest grazing area for cattle.    As we finished dinner and the sun went down, the cattle in the grazing are started going nuts!  Mooing and hallooing and doing what I can only describe as screaming.  It was wild to hear, and we managed to catch a little of it on video.

Horned Toad

One sounded particularly bad - I heard thrashing and branches breaking.  I went to investigate (with larisa worried, but behind me in spirit) but couldn't find anything.  My guess is that it managed to get caught in some of the downed timber there.  While I was investigating I heard more thrashing and lots of crackling branches right before the noise stopped.  Perhaps the cow got free.  I couldn't find anything in the morning either, so I don't really know.  Next stop:  Slide Rock!!

Mississippi River Trip: Flight!

For an early birthday present I bought Larisa a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, something I remember fondly from my first trip here with my parents when I was a kid.  Her flight was the first of the day, so we had to get up early to be there.  We checked her in, she watched the safety video, and she boarded the helicopter excited to be able to sit up front with the pilot.  Her flight departed, and I hung around the airport enjoying air conditioning and people watching.    Her flight returned.  You’ll have to read the Russian version for her thoughts on the trip, but she liked it a lot.

After her flight we hiked a few miles of the rim trail, stopping for a bit at the Yavapai Geology Museum.  The museum is tiny, but holds a wealth of information on how the Grand Canyon formed and what the future holds.  As is usual with the National Park Service, the displays were great and the information fascinating.  We lunched near the visitor’s center as a small storm began to roll in, cooling the air and dropping a few bits of rain on us.  It was refreshing! 

We planned a longer hike for the evening – Bright Angel Trail.  The trail takes you down into the canyon and ultimately you can follow it to the Colorado River and up the other side to the North Rim for a multi-day trip.  Our hike was a little shorter.  The trail warnings say that it is a strenuous hike, and that on average you should allow twice as much time going up as you do going down.  With that advice, and the fact that we were hiking near the evening, we decided to do an hour down, two hours back.  

Bright Angel trail is phenomenal.  It twists along the canyon wall in a series of switchbacks that take you past the many layers of geologic rock formations.  The views of the canyon itself can’t be beat, and the fact that the trail actually takes you through a natural arch makes the trip even better.  We plodded down the trail sipping water to wet mouths dry from hanging open in wonder.  We paused now and then for pictures, but the light wasn’t right yet, so on we went.  Our downward trek took us to a point about 5 minutes from the first resting area 1.6 miles down in the canyon.  We considered hitting the station for more water, but both of us were still well stocked, so we turned back after taking a 15 minute rest and picture break.

On the way down I’d identified four resting areas for the trip back.  Mainly I picked them because they had easy landmarks to see and gave great views of the canyon.  Heading upward I found that I had such a roll going that I missed my first two resting areas completely.  I don’t mean I decided to skip them, I mean that I missed them entirely.  I guess I was watching the canyon too much and the trail too little.  I decided to press on to the third rest area, but when I got there I had energy to spare and decided not to stop yet again.  Maybe I hadn't taken a flight this morning, but I was flying now!

 Larisa was perhaps a quarter of a mile behind me at this point because she was taking pictures along the way.   As I got to the natural arch I asked another hiker what the time was and was pleasantly surprised to discover I was ahead of schedule.  I power walked to the top and stumbled onto the trailhead breathing hard and sweating heavily to find that I’d done my return journey in exactly 45 minutes.  It was a heady feeling while it lasted.  A woman and her daughter were sitting at the trailhead when I got there, and she kept giving me looks like I was going to collapse or something.  I didn’t, though I did go directly to the water station and pour a bunch of water over my head and back.  Ah, what a relief in the heat!

I waited for Larisa to arrive – she came up exactly an hour after she left, so we both kind of hauled butt up the trail – an accomplishment we kept congratulating ourselves on.  I do have to say that I think a lot of credit needs to be given to the trail planners for Bright Angel Trail.  While steep, the trail has well planned switchbacks that don’t tax the hiker too much, and they alternate between uphill segments and short flatter segments that allow you to rest on your feet as you go up.  Essentially the trail does a lot of the work for you, and doesn’t force you to take rests along the way unless you want to.  Great trail, well planned, and well maintained, and it took me 45 minutes instead of two hours to ascend.  Whoo!

We watched the remnants of the sunset from the rim trail and were rewarded with a pure red and gold finish to the day, only touched a little by a pack of clouds over the canyon that the sun set on fire.  We headed back to camp, exhausted but happy.  This was by far my favorite hike of the trip.  We've decided that if we ever make it back here we'll try an overnight trip to the river.