Sedona - day 2

 I learned that Alltrails can be pretty useful. Go there and look up the top trails in the area. Then avoid these trails. I learned that there are many trails in Sedona and they are all good. Looking at red rocks from many angles in the sun.

I started on Boynton canyon trail. Snow and ice like VT which got rid of most of the hikers! Interesting canyon. Then I crossed the street to deadman pass and long canyon. Nice views everywhere on a red dirt path.

Another nice day except for the parking!

A note on where I am staying: Verde valley RV. Very big place on a lot of land. Maybe 100 - 200 RV sites and 15 tent sites. Rv part is full. I am the only one in a tent site. Nice indoor heated areas to hang out in and a pool for Warmer months. Half the tent sites are not that nice but I have a good one. Lots of rules here. I got 4 pages at check in! One rule is no sleeping in your car so I had to set up a tent. Colder in the tent!

Sedona - day 1

 Sedona is a busy place. Since it was a Friday I decided to do some of the more popular hikes before the weekend. This worked OK except for the middle of the day. Normal crowded park rules apply: get up early and get away from the trail head. 90% of tourists get going after 9:00 and stay within 1 mile of any trail head. 

The first hike was the bell rock and courthouse area. Parking was no problem but when I got back it was a zoo. I went to bell rock loop first and went off the end of the loop up onto bell rock. I got up some of the way and then too icy/dicey. Strange to climb on this smooth rock that has a tendency to pitch off. Next I went up baby bell and connected with courthouse buttes loop. Great views everywhere. Temps are 25 going up to 50 fairly quickly when it is sunny which is all the time. I ended up in Big park loop and returned to the car.

next up was devil's bridge. Very nice hike but too crowded. After this I crossed the street to Mescal trail. Few people and just as nice. most of these trails are mountain bike trails. Mescal trail looked like it would be pretty fun in a bike.

Devil's bridge

home for a few days