Tales from the Aisles
By Mickey Thomas
Hiking at Sedona, Arizona
While my daughter, Sue Moulton, was visiting her mother, Betty Thomas, an opportunity arose for me to go hiking at Sedona, Arizona. It had been over 30 years since I had visited Sedona. What was then a small mountain village is now a popular vacation area with many resorts and fine homes.
Despite a large seasonal population, the vast canyon areas with colorful red rock formations, remains wildly beautiful and unspoiled. This unique mountainous area was formed from ancient deposits of limestone, mudstone, and sandstone that lined the ocean floors that once covered this area many millions of years ago. When the ocean waters retreated, there were earth quaking upheavals and volcanic eruptions, followed by millions of years of erosion that created these colorful mountainous remains that are a part of the vast Colorado plateau which extends into five other states.
The rock formations are classified as a mesa if the formation is wider than tall, a butte if the formation is taller than wide, and pinnacles if jagged. Many of the red colored formations have names like Cathedral Mountain, Chimney Rock, Devils Bridge, Teacup, and Bell Rock. The national forests of this area contain at least 100 marked trails, most are easy with slight elevation. The hike I will describe was with my Canadian hiking friends, Dave and Pat Orr, and Pat’s sister, Carol Wiese. The day seemed ideal for hiking, long sleeve weather, with temperatures in the 50’s. From the trail head parking area we hiked toward the Cathedral Mountain rock formation. The trail was wide and smooth and gradually wound upward on red clay and flat red rock.
The trail wound through stunted Ponderosa Pine, Arizona Cyprus, and Fremont Cottonwood trees. The path was lined with desert bushes such as the Prickly Pear, which has thorny leaves that look like ping pong paddles, and the Crucifixion Thorn, named after the thorns Christ wore on the cross. These plants could hurt you if you were you to make contact.
There are Agave Century plants that supported the food, drink, and medical needs of the Native Americans who once occupied the area. After 25 years this plant grows a floral center stalk, several inches in diameter, 15 feet in height. Then, the entire plant dies, never to grow again. We can see the diggings of wild pigs that feed on the roots of the Agave plant. Also growing in abundance is the Banana Yucca plant, which has a center flower and long knife shaped leaves with needle like points. When the needle point is removed there is an attached fiber thread that the natives used as needle and thread for sewing their animal skin clothing. Frequently, we see the Common Manzanita with its red edible berries.
There are numerous mountain bikers on rented bikes peddling this trail. We quickly step out of the way of these inexperienced bikers who appear to be out of control. There are many scenic trails that can be selected that are void of bikers. After about an hour we reach the base of Cathedral Mountain and begin our descent back to the parking area.
It was still early in the day, and we drove to the near by parking area for Broken Arrow trail, named after the popular movie that was filmed in this area. Many western movies have been filmed in these canyons. We began hiking to Chicken Point, which is a destination for the Pink Jeep thrill riding tours. The drivers purposely take their clients close to the cliff edges and down steep rock slabs. You can hear the screams before you see the Pink Jeeps.
At noon time we stop for lunch on a large slab of red rock. Below us is a rock formation that resembles a submarine. Back on trail, the cairns, piles of rocks that mark the trail, indicate that we should head downward. Why? My old Canadian guide friend Ken Jones always said, “Why go down when you’re going up?” A trail sign explains that we are skirting “Devils Kitchen,” a huge sink hole that is about 40 foot wide and 200 foot deep. A fence prevents us from viewing the depths.
As we neared Chicken Point, we were confronted by a chilly wind and rain sprinkles. It has rained more here in January and February than in an entire normal year. We turned back. A hiking instrument indicates we had hiked 1,100 feet in elevation that day. This is surprising because the trails seemed so gradual. I felt good. Maybe that was because the Sedona folk lore claims the area has healing powers. I’m coming back next year.
