Click on any picture to see a larger version of the image
The weather for the weekend was perfect. We had blue skies every day and the temperature was in the high sixties - perfect for hiking. Folks there said the weather had not bee so good lately so we were lucky (this followed right after Sandy's bad luck on her trip to Hawaii with Shannon and MB).
Neither of us had been to Sedona before. It was a nice town, not too big and not too developed yet. But it looked like it was growing very fast. It will probably be a zoo in ten years. The red rock country around the town was spectacular. There is lots of good hiking there with excellent scenery. We stayed at a nice B&B in town with great views right from our room. And after the days hike, we went into town. There were enough shops and restaurants to keep up amused for the weekend. Sandy even found a great quilt shop where she bought so much fabric, we had to buy another suitcase to get it home.
Our first day was spent traveling and watching the Badger hockey team win the semifinal game of the Frozen Four. The next day we hiked up Boynton Canyon. Not a long hike, but it seemed a lot longer than the advertised five miles round trip. At the end of the trail we scrambled quite a ways on the slick rock to an excellent viewpoint of the canyon.
The next day we hiked up Bear Mountain. Not a typical Idaho-type mountain, it had steep cliffs on the sides which led to a series of large plateaus. We hiked to the highest plateau, but did not go to the actual summit. That was a point a few feet higher and half a mile away, in trees with no view. But the upper slopes just below gave fantastic views of Sedona and down into Boynton Canyon where we had hiked the day before.
After that hike, it was an evening of watching the Badgers win the National Championship. The next day we went home. A good trip to a neat place.
An additional interesting thing about Sedona is that there is a large new age culture that claims that the canyons near Sedona have a number of "energy vortexes" which are supposed to renew your spirit. We got Laney a mystical "energy crystal" which supposedly came from one of the vortexes. Laney wears it, but I don't know if she believes any of this energy business.
View of the Sedona redrocks country from the patio off of our hotel room
Entering the Red Rock - Secret Mountain Wilderness
Heading into Boynton Canyon
Large cliffs in lower Boynton Canyon
The trail passed right below the cliffs in the lower canyon
Blue sky and red rocks
A view into the middle section of the canyon
High clouds swirl above the mountains
Entering the upper canyon
The end of the trail
Looking down the canyon from the viewpoint at the end of the trail
High cliffs at the end of the canyon
And you thought Sandy only had to move mountains at work
Looking back at Sandy from the end of the slickrock shelf. Above is Bear Mountain, where we hiked the next day
Sandy on the slickrock shelf
The canyon comes to an abrubt end just beyond the end of the trail
Looking down on the end of the trail from the shelf we reached by scrambling
Looking up the scramble route from the end of the trail
A large spire in the upper canyon
Some of the spires are eroded into very intricate shapes
Large cliffs above the middle section of the canyon on the way back
View towards the mouth of the canyon
More elaborate rock formations in the lower canyon
Looking up a side canyon
Sandy on the patio of our hotel room
Approaching cliffs near the beginning of the Bear Mountain hike
The Mighty Canyoneer
Sandy climbing up a narrow gap in a high cliff band
Enjoying the view half way up. Some hard won altitude
Looking up to the summit from the First Plateau. We climbed to the high point on the left. The true summit is behind and not yet visible
Steve still looks to be in good spirits. He doesn't realize how much climbing is left
Sandy takes a cell phone call half way up the mountain
Looking down on lower Boynton Canyon (where we hiked yesterday) from the First Plateau
Sandy heading up a long slickrock section. Not a conventional trail!
On the upper plataeu. A view of the San Francisco Peaks beyond Flagstaff
Looking down into Red Rock Canyon. This is the other side of the end of Boynton Canyon
The true summit was a point a few feet higher on the other side of the plateau. We didn't bother heading over there
Starting back down the route
From near the summit, Boynton Canyon and Sedona in the distance
A fantastic view as we traverse a slickrock ledge just below the summit plateau
Another large party is spread out over much of the final slopes
Our intrepid climbers break for lunch at a scenic spot on the way down
Quite a view with lunch
Another view of Boynton Canyon and Sedona in the distance
Heading down more slickrock
Another slickrock section of the route. Here it goes up and over several bumps on the ridge. Elevation gain in both directions!
Looking out over the First Plateau
The view back toward the summit. This is the steep side
Reaching the edge of the First Plateau and getting ready to climb down through the gaps in the cliffs
This picture was taken right after Sandy slipped. Luckily (?) she caught herself, but by grabbing a cactus! Ouch!!!
Traversing the base of the cliffs
Heading down to the last cliff band
Home stretch
Looking up from the trailhead. The upper 60% of the climb is not visible from here