Hiking in Sedona

I arrived in Sedona, AZ on Thursday evening (March 11th) and luckily got the last RV site at Rancho Sedona RV Park that would be available for six days.  On Friday I hiked The West Fork of Oak Creek trail.  It is recommended as a summer hike and I found out the hard way that they mean summer.  It was very cold in the morning at this altitude and the snow on most of this trail was 2-4' deep, but had been compacted some by other hardy souls.  The hike is beautiful, but to complete the entire trail you have to switch back and forth across Oak Creek which is running high.  I made it across two fording locations, but the third was just running too fast and deep for me to continue.  I met several other hikers who also quit at this point.  Here's a couple of teaser photos.  If you would like to see the entire hike, click here: Gary's West Fork Trail Pics

Today I hiked in the most beautiful spot I have ever seen.  The Soldier's Pass Trail, Brins Mesa Trail, Cibola Pass Trail and the Jordan Trail form a loop around and to the top of one of the large mesas that were sculpted by God and the weather.  Words cannot describe the beauty you encounter while hiking these trails.  There are several pretty good uphill climbs and the round trip takes about four hours.  Here are a couple of teaser photos and for the rest click here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/118316684375996298248/SoldierSTrailHike#

I splurged after the hike and had lunch at the Heartline Cafe.  It was very fu fu and Sharon would have loved it.  I feel so bad that she is not with me.

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be another hiking day, but I have not decided which trail to do yet.  See you later.


GaryTheSpy

GRANDSON

On Thursday morning (March 11th) I had a very nice visit with our Grandson Jason, his wife Valerie and their two beautiful children, Jason Jr. and Collin.  We met for breakfast at the Cracker Barrell in Kingman.

I departed Kingman about 11:00am and headed for Sedona, AZ and several days of hiking.  I took Hwy 40 East and turned south on Hwy 93.  This route is mostly desolate, but there are some interesting views and you go from sand and sagebrush to Saguaro Cactus and Joshua Trees.

 

At mile 91 I turned north onto Hwy 71 which intersects with Hwy 89 toward Prescott, AZ.  I stopped for a quick lunch on the road.

Hwy 89 climbs up approximately 5,000' to Prescott, but the road is very good.  You get some spectacular views of the valley near the top.

You also run into snow at the top of this hill.

Arrived in Prescott, AZ about 2:30pm, gassed up and contiued on to Sedona where I plan to stay until next Wednesday (March 17th) and hike everyday.  Here is a shot of Sedona.  Unbelievably beautiful!

More later from my hiking adventures in Sedona.

Leaving Las Vegas

After finally fixing uncle Shoji's computer I departed Las Vegas on Wednesday, March 10th.  I stopped at the Hoover Dam and no matter how many times you see this it never ceases to amaze.  The new by-pass bridge is almost complete and has to be considered a wonder by itself.  It is supposed to open for traffic this fall.  I don't think that I have ever seen Lake Mead this low.  For a better view click or double click on the pictures.

I continued south on Arizona Hwy 93 toward Kingman.  Hwy 93 is being widened to accomodate the extra traffic that the new bridge will allow.  There is an awful lot of very desolate stretches along this route, but also some very beautiful views.

I made a quick stop at the Willow Beach Marina on the Colorado river.  Twenty years ago Sharon and I were camping at Lake Mohave and took our boat up the river to this spot.  It took us over an hour by boat from the campground.  We had lunch and were getting ready to return when Sharon got stung by a bee.  Most of you know that she was alleric to bees and she began to go into shock.  Luckily a ranger was on duty and called for the life flight helicopter which whisked her off to Las Vegas.  It took me almost eight hours to motor back to the campground, pack up and drive to Las vegas to retrieve her.  After this incident Sharon always carried an "epi" pen.

Storms in the mountains kept threatening, but I made it to Kingman, AZ with very little rain.

I pulled into Kingman around 4:30pm and went to my favorite campground (Wall-Mart) only to find that this is one of the few where overnight camping is not allowed because of a city ordinance.  Our grandson Jason later explained that many transients had set up almost permanent camps in the lot and they had to do something to get the eyesores out.  This ruined it for everyone.  Oh well, I simply checked into the local desert RV park.

GRANDDAUGHTER

On Tuesday, March 9th I visited with our granddaughter (Nicole (Nikki) DeVona) and our great granddaughters (Kaitlyn - 5yrs. and Kennedy - new as of 3/5/2010).  They're all dolls as you will see in the pictures.  Nikki's mother (Renee Woods) was also there helping Nikki with the new baby.  it was so nice to visit all of them.

LAS VEGAS

Spent Sunday night with uncle Shoji and had dinner with him, his sons (Todd and Scotty) and Joyce who works with Scotty.  On Monday Shoji and me visited Scotty at his copier business in Las Vegas.

After leaving Scotty at work Shoji and I went to the movies.  Saw "Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges.  Very good acting and a good movie, but kind of sad.  After the movie we met Todd, Scotty, and Joyce for dinner at a local Thai Restaurant.  very good food, but HOT!

After dinner, Shoj, Joyce and me went to see the Sin City comedy show at Planet Hollywood.  Not bad and it was free.

Off To Las vegas

I left Riverside, CA (Terry & Leni's home) at noon on Sunday, March 7th and headed up Route 15 toward Barstow.  Took the Silverwood Lake cutoff just north of San Bernardino and stopped for a moment to enjoy the view of the snow covered mountain tops.  To get a better view of the pictures, just click on them.

Continued up State Route 138 toward Silverwood Lake.  Stopped just south of the lake to view the valley and then up the hill to Silverwood lake.

 I was going to continue up Hwy 18 through Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake, but the weather was too bad and I was afraid to pull the trailer up the mountain through the snow and ice.  So backtracked and continued up SR 138 to Hesperia.  After gassing up in Hesperia I headed East on Hwy 18 to Lucerne Valley, CA.

 

In Lucerne Valley I turned north on SR 247 and headed toward Barstow.  Love traveling the back roads and I can't tell you how tempting it is to stop and just hike into the mountains.

Pulled into Las Vegas where it was raining and cold.  Will spend the next couple of days with Sharon's uncle Shoji and visit her cousins and our granddaughter and great granddaughters.