Flagstaff, Sunset Crater, and Wupatki Pueblos

Our plan was to spend two nights in Flagstaff at a private RV park to clean up and restock after 10 days boondocking. By the way, I’ve decided if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Henceforth, all RV décor will be color matched to Riley to hide his shedding or an abstract pattern to hide drool stains. What do you think? Lol. 

Color coordinated!

We checked into Greer’s Pine Shadow Resort on Friday, 4/12. It was nice having full hookups again, but what we really loved was that the RV park backed up to the Coconino National Forest. We could duck through the back gate and access miles of trails. It was lovely walking under the tall pines with hardly a cactus to be found. Riley quickly figured out the route to the gate and would drag us in that direction every time we took him out for walkies.  

Coconino NF trail system right out the back gate.

Rocky peaks above the trail.

Snow on the peaks!
Did I mention it was snowing when we arrived at Flagstaff?!  Luckily, Riley couldn't make it stick. :)

Albert's tassel-eared squirrel. Love the fancy hairdo. 

We found so much we wanted to do in the area that we extended our stay to five days.  Rog found a new tool to find fun things to do. In Google maps, he hit “Explore Nearby” and “Events” and up popped the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, a fundraiser for the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project. Several hours of conservation themed films (including a hilarious five-minute short called March of the Newts, you can find it online), a silent auction, and craft beer - all for a good cause. That sounded right up our alley!

A fun evening for a worthy cause.

We did walkabout in Old Town Flagstaff and spent an evening at the Lowell Observatory (We ended up with tickets from the silent auction.) The Observatory was interesting, but the weather did not cooperate – cloudy with a light drizzle – so we didn’t get to do any stargazing through the extremely cool vintage Clark telescope. Built in 1896, it was instrumental in providing the first evidence that the universe is expanding. It’s still in operation today, although it's now used exclusively for public education.

The Clark telescope is housed in the Lowell observatory. 

Flagstaff shots.

Beautiful scenery outside town too.

On Tuesday, 4/16, we visited two national monuments. The first was Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Erupting between 1040 and 1100, Sunset crater is the youngest volcano in the Flagstaff area. Artifacts from native tribes living in the area at the time of the eruption helped to establish the date. While much of the volcanic rock is a dull black or gray, the cinders atop the 1000-foot-tall Sunset Crater are red and yellow inspiring the crater’s name. We stopped at several viewpoints and walked the Lava Flow Trail along the base of the crater. Trails up the cinder cone were causing erosion so you can no longer climb to the top.

Sunset Crater.

Lichen breaks down the volcanic rock into soil.

Lava Flow trail.

A colorful spatter cone.

Lava flow patterns in the rock.

A bright red cinder cone.

Another of the 600 volcanic cones in the area.

Wupatki National Monument is about 35 miles away and preserves several pueblo ruins. The largest was a multi-story high-rise with over 100 rooms, a community meeting area and a ball court! I did not know that playing ball was an important part of early tribal social life, over 200 ball courts have been found in Arizona alone. The inhabitants relied on farming and trade. Their culture and customs seem to blend different tribal traditions and items found were traded from tribes as far away as Mexico and possibly Central America.

Wupatki pueblo.

The builders incorporated existing boulders and outcroppings into their design.

Ball game anyone??

Rog reads from the detailed trail guide.

I’ll finish with a few shots of our handsome boy. I spent some time playing with filters, not much else I can do on the computer since we’re out of data and the wifi at the RV park was totally worthless. Sigh.

Filters are fun, what a handsome boy!

This reminds me of the old tin-type photos. 

I am excited about our next destination, if all goes according to plan we’ll be camping on the beach at Lake Powell!

The Crack, Fay Canyon, and More Sedona

Before we get started, I just want to make an observation about naming conventions in the Sedona area. It seems they pick a theme and then beat it to death. About half the landmarks and businesses are either Red Rock this or Oak Creek that. South of Sedona is the Wet Beaver Wilderness area with Beaver Creek, Dry Beaver Creek, and Wet Beaver Creek, confusing much? Apparently creative thinking wasn’t the founding fathers’ strong suit. Lol.

On Tuesday, 4/9, we set out on one of our “must do” hikes – Bell Trail to the Crack on Wet Beaver Creek. (Insert sophomoric jokes as desired. 😊) In 1932, Charles Bell constructed the trail to move cattle to the Mogollon Rim. The trail is 6 miles each way with 1200 feet of elevation gain in the last two miles. Lucky for us, the Crack is about 3 ½ miles in and before the steep climb. The first couple miles look the part of a cattle trail - flat, featureless and hot with little shade. Not Riley’s idea of fun, so he kicked back in the RV while we sweated. Further along the trail is much more scenic as it climbs along the edge of a red rock canyon and then drops down to Wet Beaver Creek.

The first part of the trail was long and hot.

Climbing into the red rocks was much more scenic.

The trail skirted the edge of the canyon.

Say cheese! We traded picture taking duties with a fellow hiker.

On the trail. (Thanks for the picture, David!)

Some really cool erosion patterns in the cliff wall. 

The Crack is a spot where Wet Beaver Creek funnels through a narrow break in the rock and forms a deep swimming hole with excellent opportunities for crazy folks to jump from the perfectly lovely sun-warmed rocks into the exceedingly cold water below.  By the time we made it to the Crack, we were both ready to cool off. Rog is, of course, crazy folks and did the high jump several times. I was content to wade in and when I unintentionally slipped and ended up sitting down in the creek, decided it wasn’t so bad and just stayed there. Lol.

The crack. 

Rog contemplates the view and the jump.

Looking down. :)

And there he goes!!!!!!!!

Rog got in some mountain biking on Wednesday, while I hung out at the Sedona library. I am becoming a huge fan of public libraries. I used to hunker down at a Starbucks, drinking endless cups of coffee while I sucked up the free wifi. At Borrego Springs, Yuma, Sedona, and now in Flagstaff I’ve hit the public library instead and it’s been great. Comfortable workstations, fast wifi, and no need to overdose on caffeine!

Rog biked from our campsite to the trail system and then rode several of the loops for a total of around 19 miles. He can cover a lot of ground on the bike and saw some absolutely amazing scenery. Of course, around Sedona ALL the scenery is amazing! Did you know there are remnants of ancient Cypress forests in some of the narrow canyons? They have retreated to higher elevations as the climate has gotten warmer and dryer. He also encountered some crazy weather. Yes, out of blue skies it SNOWED on him! It was 86° yesterday when we hiked the Crack and today it’s snowing. He stopped to take some photos and video and just laughed, springtime in the desert!

The trail goes up!

Somebody is having way too much fun. Lol. 

Fantastic panorama. 

With this kind of payoff, I may need to start mountain biking. (Nahhh.)

Remnants of a 10,000 year old Cypress forest cling to the cooler, wetter heights.

Another amazing pano!

What a view!

It's SNOWING!
Riley must be dancing in the background. Lol.

We spent our last day taking Riley on a hike into Fay Canyon. The trail was only a couple of miles long with plenty of shade along the way and a short spur to a natural arch. What we didn’t realize was the spur wasn’t a maintained trail, but a steep scramble up a rocky hillside to the arch. Riley was a trooper though and made it almost to the very top. I really think he could have done the last little bit, but we were worried about getting him down. As it turns out, his four-paw drive works better than expected. Next time he might not get a pass. Lol.

Fay Canyon.

The arch (look just above the trees).

We made it!

View from the arch.

One hot puppy on the rocky spur trail.

This is more Riley's style! Lol.

After the hike Riley was rewarded with some playtime in the (not so) Dry Creek and then we headed back to the RV. Rog and I cleaned up and went into town to check out the shops and have dinner out.

Dry Creek isn't. (Yet)

We got a chuckle out of all the new age crystal shops and psychic readers. Tours to the energy vortexes are a big draw, I’m convinced the only real vortexes around here are the traffic circles! Just like the naming conventions, they got hooked on an idea and waaaaay overdid it. On the visitor’s map of the Sedona area I counted 23 traffic circles!  I swear coming into town they installed a traffic circle anytime a cow path crossed Hwy 260, literally one every mile or two! Maybe all that driving in circles contributes to the positive energy flows. Lol.

We had a nice dinner out and then walked the town. There are some beautiful art galleries, but also lots of T-shirt and souvenir shops. We stopped in to watch young artists making hand carved candles at the Magic Candle Shop. A little later we stumbled across another one and then another… we found SIX Magic Candle Shops and I’m sure we may have missed a few. See what I mean about overdoing a good thing? Lol.

Awesome fossils, the ubiquitous Magic Candle Shop, and
your choice of crystal vortex or red rock.

Fun sculptures, the only cactus garden I want is at Cake Couture, and Pink Jeep adventures.

Even with all its quirks, we really did love Sedona and hope to visit again soon. There are so many things we didn’t get to do – Red Rock State Park, the historic mining town of Jerome, Camp Verde, and about a million trails. Our next destination is an RV park in Flagstaff. After 10 days of boondocking we need to dump tanks, take on water, grocery up, and do some maintenance and chores. I’m sure we’ll find some fun stuff to do too!

From Lakeside Living to Red Rock Vistas

Our good boondocking karma continues! Although it was a little touch and go there for a minute. Rog looked at several areas and the one he was most interested in was Bartlett Flats situated on the Bartlett Reservoir. The area is part of the Tonto National Forest and is open to dispersed camping, however the website said it was closed due to high water. Hmmmm. Change plans? First a phone call to check it out. Aha, it's still open but the beach camping area is underwater which means fewer spots are available. Worth a try. 

Bartlett Reservoir. 

Bartlett Flats is about 25 miles east of Carefree, AZ, and that is 25 miles of narrow, uppy-downy, twisty-turny road. Hey, at least it was paved! We arrived on Tuesday afternoon, 4/2, and left the rig at the Yellow Cliffs boat launch parking lot to scout in the Acadia. Good plan. The gravel road to the camping area is graded, but many of the camping spots are super rocky and 4WD only. We found a few spots that would accommodate the short bus and picked one with a fantastic view of the Yellow Cliffs and lake access. Oh, this is going to be nice!

We found our spot! Lakeside boondocking.

Setting up camp.

View of the Yellow Cliffs from our campsite. 

We bought a National Forest Pass to cover 3 nights and settled in. Wednesday was hot and sunny and we hauled our chairs down to our narrow strip of lakefront beach to sit with our feet in the water. Riley had a blast and Rog and I both got a little too much sun. It felt wonderful!   

Riley loves the lake too!

We spent two days just reading, relaxing, playing in the water with Riley, and enjoying our evening campfire. One downside, we are completely without cell service. I always worry a little when we’re out of touch, especially when we don’t get a chance to connect before going dark. On the upside, the fridge has been working on gas even with temps in the 80’s. Yeah!! 

Look, Rog caught a pupfish. :) 

Dusk reflected on the water.

Relaxing around the campfire.

Riley watching "caveman TV". Lol.

We haven’t found any hiking trails, at least nothing close by (and no internet to search!). We walked the camping area and were very happy we arrived and snagged our spot when we did. The area is popular with boaters and fishermen and would be a good place to bring the kayak. There’s been lots of traffic in and out as people search for campsites, I can’t believe the number of people that come dragging their rigs in well after dark to hunt for a spot. Given the terrain, not something I would recommend! We debated staying a few days longer, but by Thursday evening more and more folks were cramming in for the weekend. With the lake as a draw, I have a feeling this place is a circus on a sunny weekend. 

We pulled out Friday morning, 4/5, hoping to find a decent boondocking spot outside of Sedona, AZ.  The area around Sedona has a huge network of Forest Service roads, with many that allow dispersed camping. We had a couple of options scoped out using Campendium, one of our favorite sources to find great campsites. I’ve mentioned it before, it’s like Yelp for campers and incredibly useful.

We took FS road 525 and endured 6 miles of bumpy dirt road to get to the turnoff for Nolan Tanks (FS 9549C). There were campsites along 525 and plenty of other roads we could have tried, but Nolan Tanks got rave reviews so we wanted to check it out first. And…… we scored! I wouldn’t mind being a little further off FS525, it’s heavily trafficked and a favorite of the pink jeep tours and ORV rentals, but the view makes it totally worthwhile. We get to sit on the patio and stare at this. Go ahead and beat that with a stick. 😊

 

A million dollar view for free!

Yes, life is good. :)

On Saturday we did some driving around and picked up information at the visitor’s center. We did the loop through Sedona, past Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock. Checked out the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Drove through the Village of Oak Creek, Cornville, and Cottonwood. We checked out a few other boondocking areas but didn’t see anything that would tempt us to move. Seriously there is so much to do here, hundreds of miles of hiking trails, historic landmarks, state parks, Oak Creek and the Verde River for water sports, good restaurants and a ridiculous amount of shopping… it makes my head spin.

Bell Rock.

Chapel of the Holy Cross.

Red rock vistas.

When Rog and I were much, much younger we had toyed with idea of moving to Sedona. We had just gotten out of the army, had no kids, no house, no ties, and only a stray cat that adopted us to worry about. Neither of us had ever been to Sedona, but the descriptions of the red rock country sounded amazing. Then, as is usually the case, life happened. We both got jobs, bought a house, raised a family, and never in 37 years had we made it to Sedona. We were both curious to see what might have been.

Well, as much as I love the PNW, I gotta say you wouldn’t go wrong here either. Fantastical red rock formations surround the town and the views from just about everywhere are spectacular. The area is known for its outdoor recreation and its new age vibe. Lots of crystals and information on the local energy vortexes next to jeep rentals and outfitters. The town is mostly upscale tourist with more boutiques and bistros than I could count. I’m betting it would take serious money to buy real estate here now. We talked to a local and they said it has just exploded in the last 15 years, she said 37 years ago it would have been paradise.  Ahhh… the road not taken. So, we’ll enjoy it for the week and hopefully come back again, in less than 37 years. Lol.

Fantastic scenery from nearly anywhere in town.

We made of list of the top things we want to do during our stay. Of course, hitting the dog friendly farmer’s market was a priority. We love to stock up on local produce and baked goods and see what homemade goodies are available. We picked a couple of hikes, scenic drives, and plan to have dinner out, the local visitor’s guide lists 29 pup-friendly restaurants! Whoo hoo. We won’t scratch the surface, but we’ll give it our best shot. Lol.

We walked to the nearby Nolan Tank. It's fenced off, so no swimming for puppy boy. 

While we are enjoying the red rock vistas, I can’t say the same for the red dirt. It is flour fine, powdery and gets everywhere! After being towed six miles behind the RV down a dirt road to our campsite you could not tell what color the Acadia was! We put down two patio mats when we set up camp and where does Riley plop down? In the red dirt. He has so much fine red dust in his coat he looks like a strawberry blonde! That and his red mud-caked lips… quite the looker. Lol.

What color is that toad?

My boy is a strawberry blonde, look at that mug. Ugh!

On Monday our plan was to drive to the Oak Creek Vista and then hike the West Fork trail. This was a Riley hike since we would be hiking along Oak Creek with lots of opportunities for him to get wet. The drive up to Oak Creek Vista was also a scouting mission, Hwy 89A is the shortest route to Flagstaff (our next destination) and we wanted to see if it was doable in the RV. Vehicles over 50’ are prohibited, so we could unhook the toad and make the drive – but the narrow road and steep switchbacks aren’t worth it. We’ll take the slightly longer, but less hair-raising alternate route thank you very much.    

Steep switchbacks up the mountain. Not RV friendly!

View from the top

Any view can be improved by the addition of some handsome dudes. :) 

We noticed on our Saturday drive that the area gets mobbed. There were crowds at all the trailheads, parking lots overflowed and the town was popping. We’d hoped it was a weekend phenomenon. Alas, on a Monday the parking lot for the West Fork trailhead was full with a waiting line to get in. We passed on that and went for Plan B. We were going to do Baldwin Loop, about 3 miles around one of the big red rock mesas, but it was just too hot. So we walked the Baldwin trail until we got to the shortcut to Oak Creek and spent several hours playing in the water. 

Red rock formations along Baldwin trail.

On the trail. 

Oak Creek. 

Playtime!

It was fun and refreshing and by the time we left Riley was blonde again. Yay! Sadly, it did not last. On the trail out we hit a sandy area and he went full-on crazy dog.

Crazy dog does zoomies in the sand. Lol.

Oh well, we toweled him off until he looked fairly presentable and headed to the Sedona Beer Co. After lunch and a craft brew, all was good. When we got back to the RV, Riley immediately stretched out in the dirt again and took another nap. Strawberry blonde again. Arrrrgh!

Riley napped while we imbibed at Sedona Beer Co.  

More fun in Sedona coming, but I need to find some free wifi. We’re out of data and I’m reluctant to cough up big bucks to Verizon for a few extra gigs or deal with the hassle of changing plans. Oh, the little joys of life on the road.