Sedona, South Rim Grand Canyon, Flagstaff -
March 2021
My husband and I were looking for a
spot to go hiking. But March is a tricky
month to travel in the USA. Most states
are too wet, too cold, or too snowy. So I
researched the average high and low temps for Sedona, Arizona and the South Rim
of Grand Canyon National Park and found that historically the average temps
were between 40-65 degrees, which makes for super good hiking conditions in a
desert climate. I will be honest and say we lucked out. It was snowing the week before and the week after.
So off we flew to Flagstaff. We landed at 1 pm and picked up a rental car. Hint: I like booking rental cars through COSTCO travel because they allow the spouse to drive for no extra charge. We immediately drove 35 minutes north to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and The Wupatki National Monument. Connecting these two parks is a 34 mile scenic road. The scenic road, is well, scenic, and worth the drive- especially since we needed to kill some time before checking into our hotel.
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| scenic road |
The cost to enter the Volcano park and Wupatki is normally $25 per car, but due to covid, the visitor centers were not open, so the rate was $20 per car, which I paid for online. There was a ranger at the Volcano entrance who would take debit or credit (no cash) for entrance.
We walked two
trails while in the park. The first was
the A’a trail- a short ¼ mile trail that gets you up close to all the hardened
lava rock formations.
The second trail we walked was the mostly paved one mile
interpretive trail with well maintained signage that told the history of the
area. The trail was quite scenic and
there were restrooms at the trail head.
Both these trails were a good way to stretch your legs
after a plane ride.
Continuing on the scenic loop road, which features many
opportunities to see the beautiful mountains of the San Francisco Range, we
finally reached the first ruins on Lomaki
Pueblo Trail. This easy 1/3 mile walk lead to a castle like ruin. Make sure to take time to
walk up and duck through the ruin doorways to view some spectacular
vistas. There are also cool folded rocks
around the area, that make for a great geology lesson.
Our next stop was the Box Canyon Ruins. It was a fairly easy 1 mile out and back trail
that leads you past about 5 different ruins.
I wish the visitor center had been open, because we
missed the Wutpaki Pueblo ruins located behind the visitor center. ( I stole
the picture below from the internet, so you wouldn’t miss it like we did.)
We stayed at a Country Inn and Suites off highway
89. It was NOT a great hotel and would
not recommend staying there. It was
dirty and dated with mismatched furniture.
The Radisson company needs to take their name off this particular location.
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| Devil's Bridge |
Devil’s Bridge/Mescal Trail was a fairly easy 2 mile walk, but once you get to the Devil’s Bridge trailhead it was about 1 mile pretty much straight up, while climbing over fairly big rocks. We got there around 9:30 am and the trail was already getting crowded. We made it to the top and there was an actual waiting line of about 40 minutes for people to get their Instagram pics on the natural arch.
tough going up, tougher going down
It was SOOOOOO crowded on the way down. It was nerve-racking to have to wait for hikers to come up a level so you could go down a level. Going down was much harder than going up!! Glad I did this hike, but I would not do it again. My advice to you is to go super early or possibly pretty late to avoid the throngs of people.
With a full bellies, we headed to the grocery store to get all the food we would need for the next few days. While traveling I like to eat my own food. I don’t mind cooking at all. Before leaving home I created menus and a grocery list so I wouldn’t buy too much food.
When we travel, we carry on all our luggage , except 1
checked bag. This checked bag not only has our hiking poles, it carries things that are expensive to buy, once you arrive on vacation. I bring plastic bags to pack up picnic food, foil, a container that has various
spices, a sharp knife, a pair of scissors, beer and wine opener, paper towels, toilet paper, full sized
sunscreen, a glass container for microwaving food, wet wipes, bug repellent,
rain ponchos and a small collapsible cooler. I have really learned to be prepared when traveling.
One checked bag with all the extras
Delighted is the word I would use for the place we would
be staying for the next 4 nights. Sedona
Pines is a planned community of manufactured homes. The amenities for this
place were great. A large semi-heated
pool and hot tub spa were in one area and then down the road was another large, adult
only, hot tub spa . There was free mini-golf, ping-pong,
basketball, playground and gas grill area.
There was a clubhouse with an event calendar that included lectures and
live music. The office had DVDs for loan. I loved that the small homes had a kitchen,
dining-living area and a bedroom with a comfortable queen-sized bed and a
decent sized bath area. Little home away from home.
After breakfast the next morning we headed out with our
picnic lunch for another day of hiking.
The first hike of the day was the Birthing Cave Trail. It is a 2 mile round trip out and back trail
to a cave.
I thought it might be a place where native women gave birth but it got its name more recently because it is considered to be an energy vortex. You might go there to meditate on preparing your body to either get pregnant or have an easier birth. The large “mouth” of the cave resembles a woman’s nether part. Anyway we hiked there. It is a great view once you climb up into the cave.
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| Ascent to the cave |
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| at the mouth of the cave |
With our picnic lunch consumed we drove to our next destination, Boynton Canyon. It is a 6 mile roundtrip out and back trail. We hiked in 2 miles to where the energy vortex is supposed to be. We scrambled up the base of a hoodoo shaped rock to get the incredible view and possibly feel the energy.
On the way back down we met a man handing out heart shaped rocks. At first I thought he’d ask for money- but his message was that everyone in the world needs a heart connection and here is a tangible thing to remind us to use our heart when making decisions. What a beautiful thing for this guy to do… And it is even better because I collect heart shaped rocks.
The next day was a Friday and the weather was
perfect. We headed to the famous
Cathedral Rock. Holy cow there were so many cars vying for so few parking
spaces. There was no shoulder on the
road and the road leading there was a dead end (though google maps shows an
exit street, it is gated.) We managed to
weave our way through the traffic and got out of there- no Cathedral Rock hike for us. The city of Sedona needs to close the road to all car traffic and just shuttle people out there.
This is what I didn't get to see up close.
We were in the area of The Chapel of the Holy Cross and
decided if it wasn’t too crowded, we would tour it. Well the cars were pretty
stacked up, so we parked at the bottom and walked uphill. The church was gorgeous and the view was
incredible. I am glad we hiked up.
Trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our day we remembered a park we had passed yesterday called Crescent Moon Ranch. It was an $11 fee to get in, but so worth it. There were nice picnic tables along a creek. Then after lunch we walked to The Buddah Hand rock swimming area.
We soaked our feet and legs in the frigid water and ironically enjoyed the back view of Cathedral Rock without the parking hassle of this morning.
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| Got the back view of Castle Rock |
Here’s a tip, the ranger told us that once the weather gets hotter, Crescent
Moon Ranch Park reaches capacity by 9:30-10:00 am because the swimming holes
along the stream were super popular. We walked for about an hour upstream along
a great path and stopped at a rock deposit to find cool geode/quartz rocks. We also
enjoyed learning about the history of the ranch through a series of historical
kiosks located near the picnic area.
We spent most of the day here wandering the park and relaxing.
Then we headed back into the town of Sedona. I had my eye on a craft store, Sedona Art Center, that sold only local artist’s works. I bought a really neat vortex inspired Christmas ornament.
We tired quickly of the weekend traffic in the downtown area and retreated to our
resort for a swim in the pool.
On our last full day we got up early to beat the crowds
to hike the Sterling Pass Trail to the Vultee Arch. The Sterling Pass Trail should be named “The Straight Uphill
Rocky Pass Trail” It was a brutal trail
but so many stunning vistas that we kept going.
When we got to the saddle of Sterling Pass, there was snow on the trail, so we
turned around, so we never got to the Vultee Arch. We saw only one hiker on our way up the trail, but coming down we met up with about 50 other hikers, so the lesson
is to be on any Sedona trail by 7:30 am.
That afternoon we took a leisurely drive out to the ghost
town of Jerome. A high school classmate recommended this town as a fun alternative to
hiking. It was a super cute old mining town
with unique shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants. My husband napped in the car as I wandered
through this ghost and pirate inspired town.
We packed car the next morning and left our small home and headed 2.5 hours north to the South Rim of The Grand Canyon ($35.00 entrance fee). I booked a room for 2 nights inside the park at the Yavapai Lodge motel. The price was high about $250 a night for a basic motel type room, but I reasoned that hotels in Tusayan, the nearest town 25 minutes away, were just a bit cheaper, and we wouldn’t have to contend with the lines at the main entrance to get in. I am glad we spent the money because getting up early for sunrise and staying late for sunset would have been a hassle if you weren’t in the park. Travel tip- you must book all national park accommodations months before you go.
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| Yavavpai Lodge motel rooms |
Tip: I made an online lunch reservations for 11:30- you get better seats at 11:30 than you do closer to noon.
We had a white table cloth and napkin lunch, with
cocktails, a (shared) burger, fries, salad and french onion soup in a historic log lodge
building. Cost for lunch with tip $60
To wear off some lunch calories we strolled along the rim
of the canyon, going down about ½ mile on the Bright Angel Trail to the first
tunnel for some great photos. We learned
later that there were pictographs on the opposite side of the tunnel.
yes that is snow
We checked into our motel room, made some dinner
sandwiches and salad, went for a walk to the little grocery store, had a glass
of wine and went to bed early.
Early to bed, early to rise for the sunrise over the
canyon. We chose Mather Point. It was a
brisk 37 degrees that morning- so I was glad for a hat and a warm jacket. We
stood and waited with a great group of people who actually took turns taking
pics from the best vantage points- score 1 for humanity.
(In a “It’s a Small World” moment, one of the people in
our group was best friends with a former student of mine - what are the
chances?)
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| My alien spaceship pic |
We kept our momentum up and drove, parked, then walked to most of the overlooks stopping to take pictures .
Then we made our way to the East entrance (which was closed due to snow) to see the Desert View Watch Tower. The tower against the blue sky made for great photos.
We once again scabbed together some dinner, trying to use up all the leftovers and groceries from the trip. The we set out for Hopi Point overlook for sunset. You must either walk to the sunset viewing points or take a shuttle bus down Hermit Road- no cars allowed. We found a parking space and began to walk. We walked for about 45 minutes to some of the overlooks along Hermit Road and then decided to take the shuttle bus to Hopi Point. There was a huge problem with the shuttle buses- due to Covid, they were only allowing 15 people per bus. We knew that this would be a bigger problem after the sunset when EVERYONE wanted a ride home. The sunset was stunning. But as feared the temp dropped and the winds picked up and we had to wait 30 minutes for our turn on the shuttle bus, or walk back 5 miles.
I thought sunset was worth the wait- my husband didn’t think
that...See what you think???
Our last morning, we got up and checked out of our room and decided to hike the 2 mile Ooh-Ahh! Trail. I think we finally got acclimated to the elevation, because this trail looked like it would be tough- but it really wasn’t that bad, even going back up.
Exiting the park we noticed the long lines of cars waiting to come into the park- it reinforced my decision to pay the extra money to stay inside the park!
Last leg of the trip was back to Flagstaff. I wanted to explore the Lava River Cave, a place my
research found on Atlas Obscura website, but alas, all the back country forest
roads were closed to traffic because these roads were still covered with ice
and snow. So sad that I didn’t get to use my new headlamp.
I hope I can hike this cave some time!
Once back in Flagstaff we checked into our hotel. This was also a Country Inn and Suites, but in DOWNTOWN Flagstaff and it was super nice. We loved the vibe of downtown Flagstaff with its wonderful independent restaurants. We ate at a cute restaurant called the Cornish Pasty Company. We had good beer, an appetizer called a Scottish egg and a lamb pasty. It was all tasty.
This was a great 8 night get-away.
If you would like help planning your next adventure
contact me at jackiebarnes217@hotmail.com
or visit my website at jackiebarnestravel.com
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