Visiting Sedona
Working in Arizona during my birthday month makes me happy! I happened to get five days off over my birthday, so I took myself to Sedona. Sedona is a magical place, and only about a four-hour drive to Tucson. I’ve been through Sedona and have done a little sightseeing, but I’ve never stayed and hiked before. I stayed at the Andante Inn. It was pretty basic, safe, and had a fantastic view! I hiked to Subway Cave and Soldier Pass Cave and did a jeep tour.
Subway Cave
I started the hike to Subway Cave just before sunrise from Boynton Canyon Trailhead. When I got on the trail there were only three other cars in the parking lot. The first mile or so you are hiking by a resort, a lot of people online found this to be a turnoff, but it didn’t bother me. It took me a little under an hour to get to the turn off to the cave. I don’t hike fast, so you can probably get there quicker. The turnoff is about 2 miles into the hike. You will see the alligator tree on the left side of the trail and just past the tree on the right is the trail to the cave (see picture below). It is really easy to find this turn off. After a little bit you have to climb under a downed tree and make an immediate 90 degree right turn. Once you make the turn you start the climb up to the cave. When I reached the cave I looked for “the easy trail” that is located on the left, but I couldn’t find it. During my time searching for this alternative way up into the cave a few people arrived and I decided to just go for it and head up the scramble. Let me tell you – It was not easy! At 5’4″ I couldn’t reach the “steps”, at one point I had my left hip against the wall and my right knee against the other, while shimmying and pulling myself up, I’m sure it was a sight to see! I went up on the left side of the entrance, and it was difficult, but I made it to the top and it was 100% worth it! There was maybe ten people up there the entire time I was in the cave. When it came time to head down there was a bit of a traffic jam as people were struggling to get back down. I opted to sit on my butt on the left side of the entrance and scoot down. Luckly my pants weren’t ripped by the time I got down! Taking the same trail back to the car I passed at least 30 people. I’m so glad I started my hike early.
When I got back to the parking lot it was full and people were circling looking for spots. There was also this man who offered me coffee. I politely declined. He then continued to tell me how he makes it and says “then I micro dose it with shrooms, shrooms are the secret”! Only in Sedona!
Unfortunately, I forgot to end my hike on the alltrails app, so my new PR in the app is 32 miles. I guess I won’t be breaking that record like ever! All in all the hike took me about 2.5 hours and was just a little over 5 miles.
Take Aways:
1. Go early
2. Prepare for the scramble at the top
3. Don’t take candy or coffee from strangers
After my hike I headed to uptown Sedona for a jeep tour. I used the Pink Jeep Tour company. My original tour was the rim/broken arrow tour. They cancelled this tour due to trail conditions and I went on the broken arrow tour. It was a blast and I’m pretty sure I am now addicted to off roading! I really enjoyed getting to see areas that would have taken me a lot more time and energy to see by foot.
Back to uptown Sedona I found this critter. This is Titan and he is a surprisingly soft and gentle Argentine Black and White Tegu.
Soldier Pass Cave
I started at dusk from the Brins Mesa Trailhead. The closer trailhead for Soldier Pass is in a neighborhood and doesn’t open until 0800 and I didn’t want to wait and fight for one of the fifteen parking spots (keep in mind that there are now shuttles to this trailhead, and if the shuttles are running the lot is closed). The drive to the trailhead was fun in the truck, but I’m not sure I would have had the guts to do it in a low car (other people did). I started on Cibolo Pass Trail – it’s a quick split to the left and a decent climb to start. Cibola Pass runs into Jordan Trail. If you go left on Jordan Trail you will loop back to the parking lot and if you go right you will head towards Soldier Pass. Soon you come to Devil’s Kitchen which is a sink hole, and is also where the neighborhood trailhead lot meets up. After the sink hole you will hike a little further and come to the Seven Sacred Pools. Eventually you will run into the off shoot for the caves. You do NOT turn to get onto the cave trail, continue straight on the trail and it will take you up and up towards the cave. After climbing for a bit you get to a big flat rock, walk across in the direction of the caves and you will pick the trail back up. Continue to climb and you will reach the cave. On the left is an arch that provides some nice shade and a beautiful view, to the right of the arch is the Soldier Pass Cave. It was a pretty easy climb into the cave, and there are roots that provide a great handhold. I made it up and had the whole cave to myself for a good ten minutes before other people joined. Inside the cave you can walk on either side and even sit up in “the window”. There is a nice step in the rock and only one questionable step to get to “the window” that provides amazing views. Once I climbed back down I explored a little more, sat down for a snack, and then found a (green) surprise left by another hiker in the arch. Once I got back down to the main trail I took a right rather than go straight to head back the way I came. This lead me up and up some more on Brins Mesa Trail. It was pretty cool seeing the caves from a distance. Once I made it to the top the trail leveled out resulting in views that weren’t as good, but still nice to have the red rocks in view. I reached the downwards part, and it was steep. I would not do this part of the trail first. I finally made it back to the car after about 4.5 hours and a little over 6 miles. Again, I hike slow, and I include all my stops in my time.
Take Aways:
1. Go early
2. Go clockwise on Brins Mesa Trail
3. Look for surprises left by others
I could not have asked for a better birthday trip to Sedona! I have loved exploring Arizona since I took my first travel nurse contract here. On my drive back to Tucson I ran into a little snow which was a nice good bye to the beautiful red rocks!
Happy Trails Friends