Choosing to spend a month in Cottonwood, AZ, with its easy access to Jerome, Camp Verde and Sedona has been an excellent decision! There is so much to do within 20 miles of our home base. Here's a sample of the past few days...
We hiked the
Secret Canyon Loop, a moderately strenuous set of trails into the Red Rock Secret Canyon Wilderness. The hardest part was the road to get to the trail head. We'd read that it was rough and high clearance was recommended, boy were they right! Our truck performed beautifully, but we probably won't attempt this road again with this big vehicle!
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| 4.5 miles of road like this to the trail head. |
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| A slot full of water! |
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| Lots of trees and bushes and some great rock views. |
Since our arrival on March 13 we've made it up to Jerome each Saturday afternoon for live music at the Spirit Room. Free music, good beer and people watching, plus the funky charm of Jerome...how could you go wrong!
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| Always lots of motorcycle riders in Jerome, this guy had a particularly unique ride. |
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| The old miners cemetery was the site of a geocache find. |
We got to explore the rugged mountains South East of Camp Verde with new friend and blog reader, Jeanie. Jeanie lives in Cottonwood and knows the back country around here well; it's been a real pleasure getting to know her.
This particular outing was exploratory, we'd read about some ancient ruins along
Towel Creek and thought we'd try to find them. The ruins eluded us but we had fun trying to get to them...fording the Verde River was included in this adventure!
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| Rugged landscape outside Camp Verde, very few roads cross this terrain. |
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| This little guy greeted us at the trail head. |
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| Lightning rocks! |
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| Here's Jeanie fording the Verde River to get to Towel Creek. |
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| Chalcedony pockets in the creek bed. |
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| The local residents were looking for handouts from us after the hike. |
Yesterday we checked out the popular Broken Arrow trail area of Sedona. There's lots of fantastic red rock formations around here such as submarine rock and chicken point, and the ubiquitous Pink Jeep tours are all over the place, taking folks on some wild slick rock rides.
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| Several times we were buzzed by this B-17. |
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There's supposed to be a geocache up on top of this pile of rocks,
we took a pass on that one...the terrain was pretty treacherous! |
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This solitary beauty represents our lovely lunch site away from the crowds
when we took an unmarked "social trail" into the wilderness. |
After our little trek into peaceful wilderness we tried a different route back to the truck. There are a few new trails just now being developed for official inclusion into the Broken Arrow Trail System: the Hogs Trails are expert level,
triple black diamond, mountain bike trails. They include High on the Hog, Hog Heaven and Hog Wash. We hiked them and could not imagine riding them, but we sure would love to see the experts do it! I couldn't get a any good representative photos of the extreme difficulty of these trails, but they were pretty mind boggling and are worth a look if you are in the area.
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| This was an easy section of Hog Wash, I loved the flowy, oozy looking slick rock! |
Haven't seen a triple black diamond mountain bike trail, but I bet it would even be a challenging hike!
ReplyDeleteYes indeed! Some of the drops on the trail were insane! A less than expert rider would be risking life and limb on these trails. Full body armor required...in my opinion!
DeleteYou are in my old stomping grounds…Bobbie's mom lived in Jerome when she was a little girl. My parents retired in Cottonwood and thus we are very familiar with the area…wish I was there right now, actually, cause it's snowing here :((
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about snow again! It's been pretty darn perfect here!
DeleteGreat slab of lightning rock! We have a small collection of hand-sized lightning rocks but I've never seen a piece like that - thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing!
DeleteLove that road you drove!! This is our kind of road. Our poor Jeep was only days old when it had to tackle these roads and get filled with red dust.
ReplyDeleteSure looks like some fun hikes!! Nothing like having the red rocks surround you.
See, carrying those trash bags would have come in handy to cross that river!! Of course a pair of hip waders would have been much nicer.
I bet the month is just flying by. I am sure it won't be long enough to see everything.
Roads that extreme are tough on the truck...it rides stiff, a Jeep would be much better!
DeleteYes indeed, I thought of the trash bags and took Tevas instead. We actually thought the water would be a little lower...knee deep would have been wonderful!
This is an area I could visit once a year easily!
The photos of lightning rock and the chalcedony in the rock are awesome. You rock. LOL. <3
ReplyDelete:-) Rocks rock!
DeleteWhat fun you are having, and what sights you are seeing! I just love that area, and you're really getting to see it all. Keep enjoying!
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful to have a good solid chunk of time to explore here! I think this area is worth several trips and at different times of the year (except perhaps summer).
DeleteFunny seeing these pictures after we talked the other night... it's fun to be able to really see what you are up to!!
ReplyDeleteLove you!
Chantal
You get a little preview over the phone, then the visuals follow! I get to share it with you twice!
DeleteLove you!
Lisa and Hans you are way having too much fun! Love all your red rock photos.
ReplyDelete