Secret Canyon and FR 152

Wow, today really did not go as planned! The late start was planned. I never meant it to be quite that late, though. My intent was to take some must-needed extra rest this morning, then hike something fairly short like Soldier Pass Arches early this afternoon. A few phone calls, the alarm going off at my house, and various other delays had me heading out for the trail after 2:00pm. With the parking area at Soldier Pass predictably full, I moved on to my next choice--Deadman Pass. Unexpectedly, that parking area was also full! At that point, it was nearly 3:00pm, so remaining daylight was becoming an issue. This ruled out a couple of other hikes on my list that would have required driving all the way down to Oak Creek Village. So, finally, I decided on Secret Canyon, a hike I had started before and never finished. Of course, it was too late to finish it this time as well, since I had no desire to drive out of rocky, badly-maintained FR 152 by myself after dark. So, I decided to just hike the first half hour. By now it was more about getting some exercise than anything else.

This is the second time I've used Secret Canyon as a fall-back hike when my first choices were full. In all honesty, I'm really not a fan of Sedona's canyon hikes in general. For starters, the trees tend to block the view, and while walking in the woods may be relaxing, it's nothing I can't do back home. For another, there are usually bugs. That was the case for this hike as well. However, it did prove to be the restful, mostly-level trek I was looking for yesterday. I was also treated to some nice scenery on FR 152, with the late evening sun lighting up the rocks and the moon making a repeat visit. Given how the day started, I'll take it!

Today may or may not mark the end of my hiking and regular updates to this blog for now. My friends from Las Vegas are joining me later this evening. They are not hikers, so for the most part, we will be doing non-hiking activities together during the day, and likely visiting over a leisurely dinner and/or card game in the evenings. Therefore, I may not have time to update this site daily, and even if I do, may not have many photos to post. I'll mostly be playing it by ear from here on out.