Hiking in Sedona

Last weekend we headed up to Sedona do do a 5 mile hike through Secret Canyon in Sedona. We had just heard about it and really knew nothing about it. We are always up for an adventure and Jared needed one last 5 mile hike using a compass and topographical map for completing his Second Class Rank in Boy Scouts. Of course we had to find a map of the area, which we found in a book in the library. Yay Library! And Jared's compass all of a sudden wasn't pointing north. Not a good thing. Poppa to the rescue on that one. He had recently replaced his compass from an army supply store. It was pretty cool and worked beautifully. Anyway, we had no idea what to expect. The drive in was 3.5 miles on a extremely bumpy dirt road with boulders and holes. There were cars parked all over the place on the side of the road where they just couldn't get any further. Our van just plowed right over it all and we actually made it to the trail head. The kids thought the dirt road was pretty exciting. I think everyone was well awake and stimulated for what lay ahead. 5 miles isn't long except when you have a 4 year old along.

This obviously was a dry river bed. But for Sedona it seemed a little odd that the color was grey/black. The dirt in Sedona is red...literally. Anyway, we all thought it was pretty neat. The cracks look like puzzles. It reminds me of being a kid camping in Death Valley (I know, who in their right mind would camp in Death Valley...long story). All the kids would play down in the wash beds with these puzzle pieces. It was fun to share a tidbit from my own childhood with my own kids. Even if it has to do with dried mud.

The trail led in and out of a juniper forest and then into a pine forest. It was pretty neat. There was manzanita all over. I love the red branches. The weather was perfect. It was so nice to be out in the sun and not dripping. Kirk taught Jared everything he knows about Orienteering. He actually knew far more than I even knew that he knew. They compared the mileage with the pedometer and even showed us all where we were on the trail. It was pretty neat. While Kirk and Jared were working with their map the two little ones pulled out a map to Sea World and decided that they wanted to see the Shamu show next. There is never a dull moment. That is what I love about our family. There is always laughter. Someone is always giggling. It is fun to just goof around and be happy. We still have our moments but the happiness still outweighs the tragedies. "Carry Me Mommy!" "Pleeeease?!" I kept track how many miles total that Victoria actually hiked. Believe it or not, that little kid hiked a total of 4 miles out of a 5.4 mile hike. Pretty awesome for a almost 5 year old with short legs. Sedona is so pretty between the rock formations, the red earth, and the blue-green bushes and trees. This exposure in this picture wasn't all that great. There was a huge shadow and then bright sunlight. Jared is in the lower right hand corner of the picture. We could hear him like he was standing next to us but he was actually pretty far ahead of us. It was really weird. This must be the Secret part of Secret Canyon. It was just so open. The sky was huge that day. We hardly saw anyone on the trail. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. Daphne took this picture of this old log. We have no idea what type of tree or bush this was. Either way it looks pretty cool with its blue grey colors. Henry decided that he was not going to move another muscle. And he meant it. So after more water, a little snack and a big rub down he felt pretty spunky once again to keep going. He cracks me up how he does this. Jared is known for carrying him at times. This time he had doggy treats in his pocket. That really helped. For a dog who has as much energy as Henry it surprises me how he can be"out cold". He must just metabolize his energy too quickly to keep up. Nothing a little rest, water, snack and a massage can't remedy. At one point in our journey I noticed that the boys were all up ahead and us girls were walking along deep in girl talk. It was really nice spending time with the girls like that. Though the range of talk ranged from Polly Pockets to the Pride and Prejudice Ball that Daphne attended the night before. It was sweet. It was a reminder of the 12 year span of our children and how old I will be when Victoria graduates from High School. Just kidding. Well sort of. She will be keeping Kirk and I young that is for sure. We will have to stay young to keep up with her.

When we were anticipating the thought that we were going to have to carry Victoria at some point on this hike, Kirk took a piece of my fabric stash and made a sling like our old baby carrier. It worked pretty well. Especially because this was toward the end of hike and she was getting pretty tired.

This picture doesn't really show how beat up the road really was. It reminded me of all of our Jeeping years growing up. I am just glad that the van made it in and out and we didn't have anything broken. On the way out we were about to pass a Mom and Dad and a Son walking along the side of the road. We stopped and asked them if they would like a ride out. The Mom was so happy to accept. She looked like her legs were about ready to give out. They were from Virginia and had parked their rental car at the beginning of the road. They had stopped at a pretty bad part in the road. It was nice having all of the extra seats to offer. They were a really nice family. It is funny how quickly you can get to know people. We were bummed that we had to go home but were thankful to have gotten out of town and be out in the open fresh air of the wilderness. It was so quiet at times to just sit and listen to the sounds. We especially like listening to the wind blow through the pine trees overhead as they sway back and forth.