Charlie Stein's Photoblog

On our short trip to Sedona, we stayed in nearby Cottonwood. Today, before driving back to Phoenix, we decided on two quick visits. The first was to Cliffrose Trail, a short and flat trail near our hotel in Cottonwood.

Batya at Cliffrose Trail

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Cliffrose Trail

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Cliffrose Trail

We then drove to Montezuma Castle National Monument, where the Sinagua people lived around the years 1100-1425. The main structure, below, is a cliff dwelling that is five stories tall, containing about 20 rooms.

Montezuma Castle National Monument

Another view of the main structure:

Montezuma Castle National Monument

The cliff dwellings face Beaver Creek, providing a convenient water supply for the Sinagua who lived there centuries ago.

Beaver Creek

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This day, we enjoyed the Mescal – Deadman’s Pass – Long Trail loop. We drove to the parking lot at 34.901, -111.828.

We hiked in a clockwise direction. We began hiking north on the Mescal Trail, which eventually turned toward the west. I regret that I don’t know the names of most of the mountains or features that I photographed.

Sedona mountains

Sedona mountains

Sedona mountains

The trail turned north again, skirting around Mescal Mountain.

Sedona mountains

Sedona mountains

We turned northeast onto the Deadman’s Pass Trail.

Sedona mountains

Sedona mountains

Sedona mountains

Sedona mountains

Sedona mountains

We turned southeast onto the Long Trail, and soon took a detour to the west, that brought us to the Birthing Cave.

Birthing Cave

View from the Birthing Cave.

View from the Birthing Cave

Charlie and Batya at the Birthing Cave.

Charlie and Batya at the Birthing Cave

View from the Birthing Cave

We returned to the Long Trail, and continued until we reached the Mescal Connector Trail, which took us back to the parking lot.

I estimate the hike was about 5-6 miles.

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, Batya and I drove up to Sedona for a few days of hiking.

Signs throughout Sedona warned that trailhead parking lots were full and that we should take a shuttle, but we ignored them and didn’t have any trouble finding parking near the trailheads.

On our first day, we followed West Park Ridge Drive, a washboard dirt road, to its end, at 34.888, -111.768. A parking pass is required. We were hiking in the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness, a 47,195-acre wilderness area within the 1.856-million Coconino National Forest.

The parking lot provided a nice view of Sedona’s Ship Rock:

Ship Rock

We were hiking counter-clockwise, in a roughly 5-mile loop. From the parking lot, we took the Cibola Pass Trail for 100 yards, and then veered right onto the Brins Mesa Trail.

Red rock formation

While not identifying the trail, this sign let people know where they were in the national forest:

Forest sign

The hike provided many beautiful views:

Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness

The trail became steeper, though it never became too challenging.

Brins Mesa trail

Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness

Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness

About halfway through our hike, we left the Brins Mesa trail and turned onto the Soldier Pass trail. We had read about a side hike to a Soldier Pass cave and decided to add that to our hike. The trail actually didn’t seem to be marked, but many other people were hiking that day and led us there:

Soldier Pass cave

The cave wasn’t very deep; more like an alcove in the red rock.

Batya sitting in Soldier Pass cave

Charlie in Soldier Pass cave

We returned from the cave back to  Soldier Pass, and continued on. We soon arrived at the Seven Sacred Pools:

Seven Sacred Pools

The next stop on the trail was Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole:

Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole

After the sinkhole, we turned off Soldier Pass trail, taking the Jordan Trail for a few minutes, and then the Cibola Pass trail, which led us back to the parking lot.

This was my first Daddy-Daughter hike, as Shaina said she wanted to go hiking with me, while her Mommy stayed home.

We went out for about an hour and a half. We parked at 33.5428, -112.0153, and started out on the 304 trail. When we reached the bench at 33.5464, -112.01214, we detoured from the trail and began climbing a hill to the North-Northwest.

As beautiful as the scenery was from the trail, the view was even better as we gained a little elevation:

We soon reached the top of the hill, where Shaina found a good resting spot. At the bottom of the hill, to the left of the photo, you can see that several trails meet at a bench. There are also tiny figures there, which are people.

This is a view toward the south, showing the parking lot where we left our car, and in the distance, downtown Phoenix:

Descending the hill, Shaina showed her appreciation for her achievement. We rain into a large group of hikers, several of whom congratulated her for being an accomplished hiker despite her young age.

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We once again parked at coordinates 33.5407, -112.0183, and followed trail 200. We then followed trail 202A, climbing a peak to around 1760′ elevation. So it was again about a 1.5 or 2 mile hike, with an elevation gain of about 400′.

It wasn’t much of a hike for Batya and me, but it was good practice for Shaina. Since our last hike was so successful, we presented her with her very own backpack with a water bladder, just like her parents have! She was very excited. Here she is taking a break to eat veggie straws, one of her favorite activities.

It was a windy day, and clearly Shaina could have used a headband or scrunchie to keep the hair out of her face. Oh, well.

I noted a strange indentation in one of the rock walls. Is there a geologist available to explain this?

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Batya and I have continued to enjoy the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, which is adjacent to our neighborhood. We typically climb to Piestewa Peak. Having already photographed that hike once, I don’t feel compelled to document each time we climbed it.

We have also taken short strolls in the Preserve with Shaina. Today’s hike was a little more exciting, because instead of just walking down trail 302 or 304 for a few minutes and then returning, we actually had a destination, climbing to the top of what is apparently called “RJ Peak.” So I thought it deserved a blog entry.

We parked at coordinates 33.5407, -112.0183, then followed trail 200, then at the intersection with trail 202A, we followed an unnamed trail that has a series of switchbacks to the top of the peak.

The hike was only about a mile or so, and the elevation gain was only a few hundred feet, but it was a good day for our 4-year-old hiker.

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A visit to Papago Park counts more as a stroll than a hike, but it was a fun outing for Batya, two-year-old Shaina, and me. The park is located near the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Garden. One part of the park is adjacent to the zoo, with parking at the zoo parking lot. We visited the larger part of the park, Papago West Park, with parking at 626 N. Galvin Parkway.

There are a few trails in Papago Park, with little elevation gain. The trails are stroller friendly.

The park does feature several sandstone buttes that people can climb, if they desire. The longest trail, the Double Butte Loop Trail, is only 2.2 miles.

On today’s visit to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, we decided on a loop hike of about 6.3 miles, moving clockwise along trails 302/304, 1A, VOA, 100, 8, and 304.

We have a map of the park (Green Trails Map No. 2813S), but it’s a bit challenging to follow, as the trails in the park are not well marked. Besides the formal trails that appear on the maps, there are also many informal trails, where hikers decided to make their own shortcuts. I think we generally followed the route given above, but sometimes we would encounter an intersection between trails, and without the trails being marked, we would be unsure whether this was an intersection shown on the map or not.

I don’t have much commentary to offer for the following photos. Other than Piestewa Peak, none of the mountains (hills) in the park are named on the map, so it’s not as though I can tell you: “This is So-and-so Peak.”

This is a barrel cactus, specifically, a fishhook barrel cactus. See, I finally had a comment!

Here’s a stand of them:

This is one of the intersections between trails 1A and 302. One of them? Yeah, both are loop trails, and they run together for a while, so this could be where they depart from each other at the west end or at the east end.

Another panorama view:

I believe this is the mortal remains of a saguaro cactus:

Purple flowers:

I should note that there are many animals that live in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, though there is so much foot traffic that the animals may remain hidden. We have only seen squirrels and a roadrunner, but there are many larger animals. Some of them venture out of the Preserve and into the surrounding neighborhoods. I have seen javelina and coyotes near our house. There are also bobcat and many other creatures.

In our first visit to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, Batya and I climbed toward Piestewa Peak — except that we didn’t quite make it to the top, having to cut the hike short to get our daughter from preschool. Batya later went with a friend and reached the summit.

Finally, on my grandmother’s birthday (she would have been 118), Batya and I returned together and reached the top.

Here is a 360-degree panorama from the peak:

It’s nice to be able to hike in January without having to wear a heavy jacket. There’s not much snow in Phoenix.

Anyone reading through my blog may wonder why I didn’t hike in 2019 or 2020. Shortly after Batya and I returned from our vacation in Banff, we learned that she was expecting a baby. Because of morning sickness that lasted through most of the pregnancy, she wasn’t up for hiking, and while she encouraged me to go on my own (or with friends), I didn’t want to do so. On June 16, 2019 (Father’s Day), our daughter Shaina was born!

When Shaina was 3 months old, Batya and I decided to take her down to Florida to meet my mother. Unfortunately, my mother had a stroke as we were on the way to the airport. We were able to take Shaina into the hospital to meet her, and have a few photos of them together. Unfortunately, my mother never recovered, and after 6 months in a nursing home, she passed away at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, on April 1, 2020. I had primarily started this blog in order to share my hikes with my mother, and I’m sorry that she can no longer read about the beautiful places that I visit.

After successfully working remotely from Brooklyn for the first 9 months of the pandemic, I decided that I could just as easily work remotely from anywhere. We flew to Phoenix in January 2021, made an offer on a house, and moved to Arizona in April 2021. After the first boiling summer, and with Shaina in preschool, Batya and I decided to go for a short hike in Phoenix Mountain Preserve, which is only a few blocks from our house.

The most popular trail there climbs to the top of Piestewa Peak. Formerly known by the non-politically-correct term “Squaw Peak,” it was renamed to Piestewa Peak in 2003, in honor of Lori Piestewa, a Native American soldier killed in the Iraq war. This is an in-and-out trail climbing approximately 1300′ over a course of 1.25 miles, and is very popular. Some locals climb the trail daily. There are also trail runners, with some climbing and descending the trail two or more times per day. Others will make the climb barefoot. Because of the short distance, many hikers don’t carry any water. In the summer, though, hikers are most likely to be found on the trail in the early morning or late afternoon. With the extreme heat and the steep climb, there have been a number of emergency rescues.

Warning signs at the trailhead explain the risks involved. I think it’s silly to call a 1.25 mile, 1300′ elevation hike “extremely difficult,” as such a term brings to mind something like Yosemite’s Half Dome or the Grand Canyon’s Bright Angel trail. But in the summer, the heat warnings need to be taken seriously. Note that while dogs are not allowed on this trail, they are welcome on many other trails in the Preserve.

Even though we were hiking on a (relatively) cool November day, Batya and I still took our time, enjoying the view, and we wore our typical hiking boots and carried plenty of water.

Scenery from the trail:

Sometimes I miss the forested hikes that I enjoyed in the mid-Atlantic states and elsewhere, but there is also a certain beauty to the desert.

A panorama:

Another panorama:

Our house is in the adjacent Biltmore Highlands neighborhood, clearly visible from the trail up to Piestewa Peak.

We almost made it to the top, but had to cut the hike short to go get Shaina from preschool. See our next visit to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve for images from the top of Piestewa Peak.

On the way down:

Some areas of the trail are dirt, typically sloped and rarely flat. Other areas of the trail are rocks, forming hundreds of uneven steps. The trail was developed in the 1930s.