Showing posts with label Sedona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sedona. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Third Honeymoon's A Charm
A
trip to Sedona to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary
seemed like the perfect time to review hikes and burger joints from
Roger Naylor's new book, Boots & Burgers: An Arizona Handbook
for Hungry Hikers, so I marked a
few hikes and Google-mapped a couple of restaurants, and we set out
on a Wednesday evening. Thursday morning we rose with every intention of doing the Hiline Trail
(after a hardy breakfast at Coffee Pot Restaurant). But to get to
the trailhead, you have to drive up a rugged section of Schnebly Hill Road, and that's when we ran into a snag.
Our
little Toyota truck probably could have navigated that road, but I
wasn't 100% per cent sure, and the warranty on our tires is expired.
So after a brief foray about 20 feet in, where we immediately began
to wallow, I turned the truck around and parked it in the paved lot
next to Marg's Draw. That trail was tempting, but being unable to
drive up Schnebly Hill made me feel very curious about the road,
itself.
Schnebly
Hill is a very old trail. Martha Summerhayes and her party used it
to get to Sedona in the 1870s (Vanished Arizona).
I wondered if it would make a good hiking trail in its own right.
So Ernie and I decided to hike up the road to the trail head (we
figured it was about 2.5 miles), and then we would decide if we could
slog any further up the Hiline Trail, or if we should just turn
around and hike back. Our other option was to hike Marg's Draw,
which looked very alluring from the trailhead. We decided to do that
one the next time we return to Sedona, and set off up good ol'
Schnebly Hill.
I'm
glad we did, because I learned a few things I hadn't known before.
For one thing, I realized I'd like to buy a two-seater ATV some day.
Several of them passed us on the way, and I admired the way they
navigated the rugged rocks and soft sand/silt that challenge any kind
of wheels on that road. I also saw something I hadn't seen before.
If
you've read Wayne Ranney's book, Sedona Through Time,
you know about the Hickey Formation and the Plateau Basalts – but
those layers have eroded away in the Sedona area, and it's hard to
tell where they were. You see basalt rocks and boulders along Oak
Creek (some of them gigantic), but I hadn't seen them along the HWY
179 trails until I spotted them poking up out of the middle of
Schnebly Hill Road. I have no idea just how large those rocks are,
since they're almost completely buried by sand and silt from the
Hermit Shale and Schnebly Hill Formations – for all I know, they may
be as big as houses.
There
was a wash alongside the road with some standing water in pools and
the sort of slickrock you can find at Slide Rock State Park, Bell Rock, Red Rock State Park, etc. Recent running water had left
beautiful ripples in the fine sand/silt. We were careful not to
stick our gallumphy footprints in it. Overhead, on all sides, red
rock formations stared down at us. We made it all the way up to the
trail head – but decided to hike back down again, since our day was
turning toward afternoon. Four to five hours hiking is plenty for
me.
So
down we went again. We didn't accomplish my goal of hiking either
of those trails (this time around), but we succeeded at the burger
end of things beyond my wildest dreams. For our honeymoon supper, we
visited Cowboy Club in uptown Sedona. We both ordered the Cowboy Up
burger, which is adorned with bacon, cheddar cheese, crispy onions,
and BBQ sauce. The burger is ground sirloin, and we asked for ours
to be cooked well-done, yet they were still juicy and tasty. They
were served on a buttery pretzel roll (just as Roger described it).
From the way the burger was described, I thought it might be a bit
sloppy, but the ratio of toppings to meat and bun was just right. I
had the sweet potato fries with mine, and my husband had the beans.
We didn't need appetizers or desert, because the combo was quite
filling.
Friday, on
our drive back to Phoenix, we decided to take the scenic route and go
south on HWY 89A, through Cottonwood, Jerome, and Prescott. This is
one of the most beautiful drives you can do in AZ. It's interesting
if you're driving south to north, but I particularly enjoy it in the
other direction, climbing into Jerome instead of descending through
it. If you're the driver, you will have to remind yourself to watch
the road, because it twists and turns while continually revealing
breathtaking scenery.
By
the time we reached Prescott, I was ready to try another burger joint
from Roger's book, Bill's Grill. It doesn't seem to be on the main
drag through town, but it actually is. It's an innocuous little
place on a stretch of the highway at the southern end of town. Hwy
89 is called South Montezuma Street for that stretch, so don't let it
throw you.
We
chose to sit in the enclosed porch, mostly because we didn't realize
it was a porch, it was so cozy and well-protected from the elements.
This proved important, because on that particular day a storm was
passing through Arizona, bringing colder temps and lots of wind and
rain. We felt snug and comfy as we ordered the Southwest BBQ Burger
(I just can't resist the bacon). It doesn't come with a side – you
have to order that extra, but you may find you don't need it. The
burger is pretty big, and I couldn't make much of a dent in the sweet
potato fries I ordered (though they were perfect). It had a couple
of things in common with the burger I got at Cowboy Club. One was
that it also was not overwhelmed by its condiments. And the other
was that they use locally raised beef. These burgers were so tasty,
I think I've been spoiled for life.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Sedona Through Time
Sedona
Through Time (3rd edition),
by Wayne Ranney, is the third book in what I like to call Ranney's
Rock Trilogy. Book One, Ancient Landscapes Of The Colorado Plateau (co-written with Ron Blakey), takes us step-by-step through the landscape changes in the
Four Corners area, beautifully illustrating each geologic occurrence
with Paleogeographic maps. Book Two, Carving Grand Canyon,
zooms in on the most breathtaking landform in North America, delving
into a lesser-known feature called the Mogollon Highlands, which
turns out to be one of the major forces in the formation of the Grand Canyon and of Sedona, the focus of Book Three.
By
the time you read Sedona Through Time,
you've got a much better idea of how the layers in Sedona formed,
because they are many of the same layers present in the Grand Canyon.
But once you go Southeast to Sedona, those layers have changed a bit
in character, and some unique features appear, like the Schnebly Hill
Formation. The helpful diagrams, maps, and photographs that are
present in Books One & Two of Ranney's Rock Trilogy are also
present in Book Three, and they are very effective in illustrating
the geologic events that created Sedona.
Anyone
who visits Sedona and nearby Oak Creek Canyon is struck by their
beauty and serenity. They possess a profound spirit that is as
beautiful as what you can experience in the Grand Canyon, but is much
more up-close and personal. Having some knowledge of what the rocks
are and how they got there enhances that experience. For visitors
whose curiosity is piqued, the book also includes a point-by-point
road and trail guide. So take it with you when you visit – you'll
see Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon as you've never seen them before.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Oak Creek Canyon, Vortex Of Fabulosity
As
Ernie and I drove south toward Sedona on HWY 89, I mused about all of
the years I've been visiting that spot. No doubt about it –
Sedona, in its pre-vortex, pre-nouveau-riche, semi-old-west-town
incarnation was a lot more fun than it is now. But Oak Creek Canyon,
Sedona's raison d'etre, remains beautiful, magical, and delightful.
There is no place like it on Earth, and the not-so-simple reason for
that is its geology.
It's
a small canyon – at least, compared to its giant cousin up North.
Yet it shares a lot of the same layers you see exposed in the Grand Canyon. The mnemonic to remember with that chunk of the Colorado
Plateau is this one: Know The Canyon's History – Study Rocks
That're Made By Time.
Know
– Kaibab: sandy limestone, greyish-white
The
– Toroweap: also sandy limestone, a bit darker
Canyon's
– Coconino: cross-bedded sandstone
History
– Hermit: shale
Study
– Supai: it's complicated
Rocks
– Redwall: limestone (gray, but stained red by hematite)
That're
– Temple Butte: sandy dolomite, sandstone, mudstone, and limestone
Made
– Muav: limestone
By
– Bright Angel: shale
Time
– Tapeats: sandstone
All
of those layers, starting with the Tapeats at the bottom and ending
with the Kaibab on top, are Paleozoic. In Northern and Eastern
Arizona you can find at least a few Mesozoic layers too (from the Age
of Dinosaurs): Moenkopi, Moenavi, the Chinle layer of Petrified Forest National Park, the Navajo Sandstone of Monument Valley, etc.
It gets complicated, depending on how far North and East you go.
Arizona was at the edge of the continent when a lot of this stuff
formed, so you see layers from shallow seas, sandy shores, dune-y
deserts, and river floodplains.
Ernie
and I observed the whimsical shapes into which the Moenkopi layer
likes to erode when we hiked through Wupatki. If we had continued
North on HWY 89 (or the equally delightful alternate route, 89A) we
would have seen more of this layer in Utah. Heading South on 89, we
dropped in elevation, losing any hint of the dinosaur age, but
discovering some interesting layers in Oak Creek Canyon that are not
seen in the Grand Canyon. The east side of the fault that forms Oak
Creek Canyon is topped by a thick basalt layer, a lava flow. But the
Kaibab, Toroweap, and Coconino layers were eroded on this side of the
fault, so the layer under that is the Hermit.
Much
of the west side (1000 feet higher than the east) is topped with the
Kaibab limestone. The basement rock is the Redwall layer – a lot
of Sedona is built on that layer. Above that is the Supai, which is
actually a group of layers, mostly sandstone and mudstone. The
Hermit shale layer sits on top of that; despite its name, it is a
complicated mix of sandstone, mudstone, and conglomerate. And on top
of that is an 800 to 1000-foot-thick layer unique to the area: the Schnebly Hill formation, a series of gold and rust-red layers of sandstone,
mudstone, and limestone. The sandy parts were were once coastal
dunes.
Another
layer pinches out inside the Schnebly Hill formation, a greyish band
of Fort Apache Limestone. Coconino sandstone tops many of the
formations on the south side, but it merges in places with the
Schnebly Hill formation, giving the rocks a nifty striped appearance.
Like
the Grand Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon can surprise you as it suddenly
appears out of the landscape. This is particularly true if you
approach from Flagstaff. The North end of the canyon is hidden
among trees. Then you get to drive down the niftiest switchbacks on
Earth, observing some spots where the layers have literally been
pulverized by the fault. Invariably, when I'm driving through oak
Creek Canyon, I have to pull over to let impatient motorists pass.
For some reason, they like to zoom through this paradise, as if they
could actually be bored by the sight. Poor, doomed souls. I hope my
spirit will take this route to the Great Beyond, once I've left this
mortal form behind.
In
the meantime, this mortal form is very happy to hike various spots in
the canyon (after having eaten a delightful lunch at the Galaxy Diner
in Flagstaff). The first spot I wanted to hit was the trail near the
West Fork of the Creek. You have to pay to get into this spot –
it's not a State Park or a National Park. But it deserves to get a
little moolah for its upkeep, and I'm grateful it never draws the
same sort of crowd you would see at Slide Rock State Park. (Try
visiting Slide Rock in January if you just want to hike and don't
care about swimming – hardly anyone is there and it's spectacular.)
After
that, we headed for Midgely Bridge (or as the locals call it, Midgely
Bridgely). The climb down to the trail that begins under the bridge
is a little heart-stopping, but you get an amazing view of the fork
in the creek and of the Supai rocks. You can hike all the way down
to the creek from there, a hot proposition if it's summer and the sun
is shining. Fortunately for us, it was a cloudy spring day, so down
we went. Wildflowers and rock formations caught my eye on the way
down, and I saw some evidence of ancient hot spring activity in some
of the rocks that had eroded from higher spots.
Hiking
back up was much more of a challenge (for me, at least – Ernie is a
mountain goat), but we still had enough energy to explore a part of
the road (now a trail blocked to motor traffic) where the old bridge
used to be. It was mysterious, and hinted at other spots not often
accessed by casual hikers in the canyon. Some day, Ernie and I will
spend a season there, exploring the general area. This is my fond
ambition . . .
But
the day was waning, so we stopped at our favorite coffee joint on HWY
89, before looping back to do the spectacular drive along HWY 179.
Some of the niftiest formations reside there, and at one point the
setting sun set the rocks ablaze. I had to pull over to one of the
overlooks and snap some photos. I just managed to catch the sunset
lighting up the rocks before the light shifted and the moment passed.
My heart brimmed with satisfaction.
Sipping
iced mochas, we headed back to Phoenix on I-17. I would rather have
lingered and extended our day trip into days, weeks, months. But I
comfort myself by considering the fact that Oak Creek Canyon, Walnut
Canyon, Sunset Crater, Wupatki, Montezuma Castle, and dozens of other
wonderful spots are in my backyard.
I
just need to venture there from time to time.
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