Trip Journal: A Month in Sedona - 2021 - Part 1
Sedona, Arizona, and Cortez, Colorado, with stops in Flagstaff and Winslow
Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 31, 2021
Journal Index. Since this is a month-long adventure, the journal will be long, even by my standards (maybe not the 226 pages from the 2019 Alaska trip, but it will be well over a hundred pages by the time I get it all typed up). I’ve included an “executive summary” of sorts in the following section, then details on the planning for the trip. The details of the trip are divided into several parts. Here’s the breakdown with links to each of the parts:
Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 31, 2021
Journal Index. Since this is a month-long adventure, the journal will be long, even by my standards (maybe not the 226 pages from the 2019 Alaska trip, but it will be well over a hundred pages by the time I get it all typed up). I’ve included an “executive summary” of sorts in the following section, then details on the planning for the trip. The details of the trip are divided into several parts. Here’s the breakdown with links to each of the parts:
Introduction, Short Story/Summary, Planning Details
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Day 1 through Day 7 (October 1 - 7) - Allen’s week in Sedona
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Day 8 through Day 12 (October 8 - 12) – UTAH Meet-up in Cortez, CO, & an overnight stay at the La Posada
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Day 13 through Day 17 (October 13 - 17) - Week 2 in Sedona - Allen & Lynn
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Day 18 through Day 25 - Week 3 in Sedona - Allen and Lynn
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Day 26 through Day 31 (October 26 - 31) - Lynn's week in Sedona, Numbers & Lists, Final Thoughts
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Lots of Zen Time. Taking a longer vacation, say three or four weeks at a time, has been something that Lynn and I have been discussing. Sure, when we finally get to New Zealand that will be at least a three-week trip due in large part to the amount of time required to get there (unless we get those supersonic airliners that United has purchased from Boom up and running). No, what I’m thinking is a month-long vacation to a location to just hang-out, enjoy the area and get in a lot of chill time. Pick a spot and sort of plant roots, albeit temporarily. This would also make up for some of the lost travel time due to the pandemic over the past two years. Sedona seems like the perfect place for that type of vacation. We know the area and we know that we can find plenty to do there plus we know that we can be happy doing nothing there. And that is just what we did, a month in Sedona, well, more or less. We got a great deal on a rental house in the Village of Oak Creek for the month of October, but we ended up splitting the month to reduce the time that we were both away simultaneously. I went out for the first week, then Lynn came out and we had two weeks together, then I went back to Ohio so that Lynn could have the last week on her own. That worked out well. Plus, we integrated the annual meet-up with the Herd, this year held in Cortez, Colorado, into the plan. That was a blast. Overall, our month-long vacation was a smashing success. We got in lots of trail time, visited with our hiking buddies in Sedona and Cortez, tried a lot of great beer, saw a lot of critters, and just generally had a nice, relaxing time in the Grand Circle.
The Short Story. The as-short-as-I-can-make-it story will still take a page or two. This is a month-long trip, after all. This will be the Reader’s Digest, Executive Summary, standard TripAdvisor trip report flavor, and probably still longer than a lot of folks will want to read.
The really short story is that we had a wonderful and relaxing trip fille with a lot of great hikes on the trails in Red Rock Country. We split the time in Sedona to cover some logistical concerns, so I went out the first week, then Lynn came out and we had two weeks together, then I went home so that Lynn could have a week in Sedona to herself. We added a weekend road trip to Cortez, CO, for the UTAH meet-up and incorporated an overnight stay in Winslow at the La Posada on the return from the meet-up.
We had a long list of things that we wanted to do during this trip and only got through part of that list, but that’s OK as we had a blast anyway. Besides, that just gives us a start on planning the next trip to Sedona. Spoiler alert, we’ve already rented a house for the month of October in 2022!
Here’s the day-by-day summary for our month in Sedona during October 2021 (the accompanying photo galleries are linked here):
Day 1 - Friday, October 1 – Allen Goes to Sedona. A relaxed travel day for me with no travel delays as I flew from CLE to Flagstaff via Denver. Since I had time before I could check in to the rental house, I tried another brewery on the Flagstaff Craft Beer Trail, Historic Brewing. A nice selection of craft beers, good but not great. The tacos were excellent. Then it was off to Sedona. I arrived at our little home for the month, located at the far eastern edge of the Village of Oak Creek nearly at the end of Jacks Canyon Road. Just the right size for Lynn and me. Then I was off for my first hike of the trip. I picked an old favorite, the loop around Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock. Great opening day hike. Wove my way through the huge sandstone formations and enjoyed the vistas in all directions along the trail. The setting sun set the red rocks aglow. It was magical. I made it off the trail with just a little day light remaining but enough to see my way back to the trailhead. After a stop at the grocery store, I headed back to the house for a simple dinner and unpacking. I made it an early night tonight as tomorrow I have a big hike planned, the Hangover Trail.
Day 2 - Saturday, October 2 – The Hangover Trail. As I was still on east-coast time, I was up early. That gave me time to finishing organizing the house and setting up the remote office (yeah, this trip is mostly vacation, but Lynn and I will stay caught up on email, action times and a few meetings, but only the really important stuff). I was on the road early to get to the Huckaby and Munds Wagon Trailhead parking lot before it filled up. Great day for a hike, and I picked a tough one. We hiked the Hangover Trail during our 2019 visit to Sedona. I really liked this hike, but it was not one of Lynn’s favorites, so it worked out having this first week on my own so I could try the Hangover again. Great hike, but tough. Beautiful views all along the route, but the highlights are from the Hangover Trail looking north over the canyon toward Midgley Bridge and Sedona. This is also a good hike for the little details, like wildflowers and butterflies particularly near the creek along the Munds Wagon Trail. I had earned a beer or two by the time I had finished this trek. And that’s how I spent the afternoon, relaxing in the backyard of the house, enjoying a beer and watching the birds.
Day 3 – Sunday, October 3 – Long Canyon and the Birthing Cave. Out on the trail early again; best way to beat the crowds and get parking at the more popular trailheads, like Long Canyon. Everybody is talking about the Birthing Cave, another of the “secret sites” in Sedona. What the heck, let’s see what it is all about. Honestly, I was underwhelmed. It is an interesting formation, but nothing spectacular and the view is not that inspiring (morning is the wrong time for the best light). Glad that I had studied the trail maps and had planned for a longer hike. After the Birthing Cave, I continued up Long Canyon, then cut west on the Deadman’s Pass Trail then completed the loop route along the Mescal Trail. Deadman’s Pass and the Mescal Trail provided phenomenal views every step of the way. This one is a keeper. Ideal weather, very low traffic on the trail, outstanding vistas and a lot of interesting details along the way all add up to a great day on the trail. I was off the trail well before noon, so plenty of time for a second hike, but I opted to again have a relaxing afternoon and a couple cold beers back at the house in Jacks Canyon.
Day 4 – Monday, October 4 – Boynton Canyon and The Subway. Another early start to get ahead of the crowds. I went back to the canyon area of West Sedona to hike up Boynton Canyon and look for the Subway, another of the “secret locations” in Red Rock Country. The Boynton Canyon Trail is quite lovely, particularly the open the initial open section that runs along the Enchantment Resort. Nice views of the red rock formations. Once past the resort, the views diminish as the trail runs through the woods. I left the main trail and followed the route described on the web to get to the Subway. A longer and more challenging hike than that to the Birthing Cave, but the payoff at the Subway is far superior and worth the effort. Interesting “slot cave” formation with a couple small, rebuilt ruins nearby. On the return hike, I detoured up to the Boynton Vista to take in the view. My afternoon plan of getting an IPA at Sedona Beer Company was scuttled due to a scratchy throat, so I got a COVID test just to be on the safe side and spent the afternoon relaxing (and doing a little telework) back at the rental house.
Day 5 – Tuesday, October 5 – Rainy Day. As predicted, this was a good day to stay off the trail as the thunder, lightning and rain rolled in overnight and popped several times throughout the day. That gave me an excuse to have a relaxing day at the rental house.
Day 6 – Wednesday, October 6 – Hog Heaven to Submarine Rock, plus Secret Slickrock.
Day 7 – Thursday, October 7 – Lynn Arrives!
Day 8 – Friday, October 8 – Off to Cortez.
Day 9 – Saturday, October 9 – Sand Canyon, Canyon of the Ancients.
Day 10 – Sunday, October 10 – Long House & Wetherill Mesa, Mesa Verde National Park.
Day 11 – Monday, October 11 – La Posada and the Turquoise Room.
Day 12 – Tuesday, October 12 – Back to Sedona
Day 13 – Wednesday, October 13 – Mescal Mountain-Deadman’s Pass-Long Canyon Loop.
Day 14 – Thursday, October 14 – Shopping in Uptown Sedona.
Day 15 – Friday, October 15 – Hogs Trails & Dinner at the Warehouse.
Day 16 – Saturday, October 16 – Woods Canyon.
Day 17 – Sunday, October 17 – Chicken Point.
Day 18 – Monday, October 18 – No hiking but more beer!
Day 19 – Tuesday, October 19 – Work day, then Rabbit Ears.
Day 20 – Wednesday, October 20 – Hanging out with Beth and Tommy.
Day 21 – Thursday, October 21 - Brins Mesa and Soldiers Pass Loop.
Day 22 – Friday, October 22 – Munds Wagon Trail to the Merry-go-round.
Day 23 – Saturday, October 23 – Huckaby Trail.
Day 24 – Sunday, October 24 – Loop from Yavapai Point.
Day 25 – Monday, October 25 – Allen heads back to Ohio.
Day 26 – Tuesday, October 26 – Turkey Creek
Day 27 – Wednesday, October 27 – Girdner Trail
Day 28 – Thursday, October 28 – Girls Day Out.
Day 29 – Friday, October 29 – Party at the Warehouse.
Day 30 – Saturday, October 30 – Hiline Trail.
Day 31 – Sunday, October 31 – Travel Day for Lynn.
OK, that’s as short as I can make this story. Next, we get into the nitty gritty details.
The Short Story. The as-short-as-I-can-make-it story will still take a page or two. This is a month-long trip, after all. This will be the Reader’s Digest, Executive Summary, standard TripAdvisor trip report flavor, and probably still longer than a lot of folks will want to read.
The really short story is that we had a wonderful and relaxing trip fille with a lot of great hikes on the trails in Red Rock Country. We split the time in Sedona to cover some logistical concerns, so I went out the first week, then Lynn came out and we had two weeks together, then I went home so that Lynn could have a week in Sedona to herself. We added a weekend road trip to Cortez, CO, for the UTAH meet-up and incorporated an overnight stay in Winslow at the La Posada on the return from the meet-up.
We had a long list of things that we wanted to do during this trip and only got through part of that list, but that’s OK as we had a blast anyway. Besides, that just gives us a start on planning the next trip to Sedona. Spoiler alert, we’ve already rented a house for the month of October in 2022!
Here’s the day-by-day summary for our month in Sedona during October 2021 (the accompanying photo galleries are linked here):
Day 1 - Friday, October 1 – Allen Goes to Sedona. A relaxed travel day for me with no travel delays as I flew from CLE to Flagstaff via Denver. Since I had time before I could check in to the rental house, I tried another brewery on the Flagstaff Craft Beer Trail, Historic Brewing. A nice selection of craft beers, good but not great. The tacos were excellent. Then it was off to Sedona. I arrived at our little home for the month, located at the far eastern edge of the Village of Oak Creek nearly at the end of Jacks Canyon Road. Just the right size for Lynn and me. Then I was off for my first hike of the trip. I picked an old favorite, the loop around Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock. Great opening day hike. Wove my way through the huge sandstone formations and enjoyed the vistas in all directions along the trail. The setting sun set the red rocks aglow. It was magical. I made it off the trail with just a little day light remaining but enough to see my way back to the trailhead. After a stop at the grocery store, I headed back to the house for a simple dinner and unpacking. I made it an early night tonight as tomorrow I have a big hike planned, the Hangover Trail.
Day 2 - Saturday, October 2 – The Hangover Trail. As I was still on east-coast time, I was up early. That gave me time to finishing organizing the house and setting up the remote office (yeah, this trip is mostly vacation, but Lynn and I will stay caught up on email, action times and a few meetings, but only the really important stuff). I was on the road early to get to the Huckaby and Munds Wagon Trailhead parking lot before it filled up. Great day for a hike, and I picked a tough one. We hiked the Hangover Trail during our 2019 visit to Sedona. I really liked this hike, but it was not one of Lynn’s favorites, so it worked out having this first week on my own so I could try the Hangover again. Great hike, but tough. Beautiful views all along the route, but the highlights are from the Hangover Trail looking north over the canyon toward Midgley Bridge and Sedona. This is also a good hike for the little details, like wildflowers and butterflies particularly near the creek along the Munds Wagon Trail. I had earned a beer or two by the time I had finished this trek. And that’s how I spent the afternoon, relaxing in the backyard of the house, enjoying a beer and watching the birds.
Day 3 – Sunday, October 3 – Long Canyon and the Birthing Cave. Out on the trail early again; best way to beat the crowds and get parking at the more popular trailheads, like Long Canyon. Everybody is talking about the Birthing Cave, another of the “secret sites” in Sedona. What the heck, let’s see what it is all about. Honestly, I was underwhelmed. It is an interesting formation, but nothing spectacular and the view is not that inspiring (morning is the wrong time for the best light). Glad that I had studied the trail maps and had planned for a longer hike. After the Birthing Cave, I continued up Long Canyon, then cut west on the Deadman’s Pass Trail then completed the loop route along the Mescal Trail. Deadman’s Pass and the Mescal Trail provided phenomenal views every step of the way. This one is a keeper. Ideal weather, very low traffic on the trail, outstanding vistas and a lot of interesting details along the way all add up to a great day on the trail. I was off the trail well before noon, so plenty of time for a second hike, but I opted to again have a relaxing afternoon and a couple cold beers back at the house in Jacks Canyon.
Day 4 – Monday, October 4 – Boynton Canyon and The Subway. Another early start to get ahead of the crowds. I went back to the canyon area of West Sedona to hike up Boynton Canyon and look for the Subway, another of the “secret locations” in Red Rock Country. The Boynton Canyon Trail is quite lovely, particularly the open the initial open section that runs along the Enchantment Resort. Nice views of the red rock formations. Once past the resort, the views diminish as the trail runs through the woods. I left the main trail and followed the route described on the web to get to the Subway. A longer and more challenging hike than that to the Birthing Cave, but the payoff at the Subway is far superior and worth the effort. Interesting “slot cave” formation with a couple small, rebuilt ruins nearby. On the return hike, I detoured up to the Boynton Vista to take in the view. My afternoon plan of getting an IPA at Sedona Beer Company was scuttled due to a scratchy throat, so I got a COVID test just to be on the safe side and spent the afternoon relaxing (and doing a little telework) back at the rental house.
Day 5 – Tuesday, October 5 – Rainy Day. As predicted, this was a good day to stay off the trail as the thunder, lightning and rain rolled in overnight and popped several times throughout the day. That gave me an excuse to have a relaxing day at the rental house.
Day 6 – Wednesday, October 6 – Hog Heaven to Submarine Rock, plus Secret Slickrock.
Day 7 – Thursday, October 7 – Lynn Arrives!
Day 8 – Friday, October 8 – Off to Cortez.
Day 9 – Saturday, October 9 – Sand Canyon, Canyon of the Ancients.
Day 10 – Sunday, October 10 – Long House & Wetherill Mesa, Mesa Verde National Park.
Day 11 – Monday, October 11 – La Posada and the Turquoise Room.
Day 12 – Tuesday, October 12 – Back to Sedona
Day 13 – Wednesday, October 13 – Mescal Mountain-Deadman’s Pass-Long Canyon Loop.
Day 14 – Thursday, October 14 – Shopping in Uptown Sedona.
Day 15 – Friday, October 15 – Hogs Trails & Dinner at the Warehouse.
Day 16 – Saturday, October 16 – Woods Canyon.
Day 17 – Sunday, October 17 – Chicken Point.
Day 18 – Monday, October 18 – No hiking but more beer!
Day 19 – Tuesday, October 19 – Work day, then Rabbit Ears.
Day 20 – Wednesday, October 20 – Hanging out with Beth and Tommy.
Day 21 – Thursday, October 21 - Brins Mesa and Soldiers Pass Loop.
Day 22 – Friday, October 22 – Munds Wagon Trail to the Merry-go-round.
Day 23 – Saturday, October 23 – Huckaby Trail.
Day 24 – Sunday, October 24 – Loop from Yavapai Point.
Day 25 – Monday, October 25 – Allen heads back to Ohio.
Day 26 – Tuesday, October 26 – Turkey Creek
Day 27 – Wednesday, October 27 – Girdner Trail
Day 28 – Thursday, October 28 – Girls Day Out.
Day 29 – Friday, October 29 – Party at the Warehouse.
Day 30 – Saturday, October 30 – Hiline Trail.
Day 31 – Sunday, October 31 – Travel Day for Lynn.
OK, that’s as short as I can make this story. Next, we get into the nitty gritty details.