Cathedral Trail

This was the second of my birthday weekend hikes. The first the beautiful one in Phoenix (see previous post) 

Place: Sedona Arizona 
Trail: Cathedral Trail 
March 15, 2020 last day before I turned 44. 
It was 63 degrees 

We had some trouble finding the trail head. Chad's phone map stops working each time we get close. I turn the car around and navigate the roundabout a few times, as Chad huffs and grovels with his frustration. 

We do at last find the trail head. It is impossible to park close due to the spots popularity.
So we find a spot up the hill with the car tilted off the side of the road and we joyfully popped out the car and wandered down the road to the trail head. 

This soil was a rich red and seemed damp like clay ready to be fired. The red soil, the green trees, and the blue sky always make Sedona seem unreal. Again like the purple cholla field in the Tortillas the world is a vibrant photograph come to life. Blooming Manzanita, cypress trees with winding roots, and pinion pines greet as at the beginning as we climb to the cathedral 

There were quite a few people but all are cordial with one another. I think it helped my expectation was to be ready for other humans and I enjoyed most of them. 

I do in my head start to curse my love a little as my fear of heights meets me at a narrow crack up the hill. There is a small platform where we move out of the way for hikers descending down. I feel my familiar vertigo my head spins and my hands shake and worry I wont be able to continue. 

Thinking back my fear feels silly. I am strong and agile and climb easily. Vertigo is the real challenge, as dizziness, and long falls seems to be a valid fear. 

The hike is worth it. There are piles of rocks  in metal cages shaped like cylinders that mark the way when the trail is not there or hard to find. There were also markings that say "Healing in Progress" for over traveled areas, which is a nice reminder to stay on the trail. 

At the top of the accent you can see a vast landscape and tall red spheres of sandstone. This area is called a "vortex".

A vortex is a place that has magnetic pull. It is supposed to be healing. 

As I sit on the edge of a cliff face. Chad reminds me to breath and as do I can look out at the valley below. I close my eyes and feel the wind on my face and feel my body soften and perhaps it is magic because I feel no fear on the decent. 

We see two different brides coming to this cathedral to be married (or at least to take photos). My favorite in a bride in a beautiful dress and black hiking boots. I do love contrast. 

We end the hike at a stream. I take off my socks and shoes and rest my feet in the cold water. Chad joins me and we sit on the red sandstone the cold water running over our feet. The stream runs through the pinion pines. We watch families pass telling there little ones not to get there shoes wet, they look at us and have moments of defiance. Even though the evening is not hot the act is a primal calling and it is a refreshing gift on my sore and tried feet. 

We climb the hill to the car and decide to stop for pizza. I order and Orange Blossom beer that is delicious. Chad I think had an IPA. It is almost too cold to sit outside but we do it anyway. 

Then we find a campsite for the night in an area that is like and old ranch, rugged trees, large rocks and run off ditches next to a windy dirt road. Chad finds enough logs for a brief fire and in the dark of the night we snuggle together for warmth and the sky is as beautiful as city lights in the distance at night, it is salt on an Oreo cookie, it is a light bright with all the lights plugged in. It is Christmas night on that street everyone drives slow through and it is all natural magic via stars. 

Constellation Trail

International Woman's Day

 03/08/2020

 1.7 miles 

Motivation to go: Low 

Fun had: High 

It was a bit cold out, my Tucson blood was still thin and I felt lazy to hide under blankets in the house. But, I knew the fresh air would do us all good. 

The trail began flat and sandy and I  commented, it seemed like a nice place to run. Chad promptly pointed out, "It does not remain flat". Chad is familiar with this trail as it just a short drive from his home. Only recently did they add a charge of $3 to park at the trailhead.

Something about this space has me drawn to it. I want to stop on my way home and slink off into the trees. The large cottonwood trees at the beginning of the trail head offer shade and mystique. 

There was a space before the trail ended where two trees leaning together made an arch. I like imagining these kind of spaces are magic portals. As, I slip through, I am transformed into a frog. Chad chooses a dragonfly. I tell he him to "look out" as he would then be my snack. He decides he would be a giant dragonfly, too big for me to eat, and we would form a friendship and travel together. This hike throughout indulges our imagination. There was a shape in one rock that looked like a pet or some sort of cartoon, we named him Brutus with no need to tell him to stay. 

There was another rock that was set up high and looked like and artists depiction of a goddess yoni and thighs. 

A perfect celebration of the female form. 

Chad and I stand in one spot sharing all we see in the rocks like children looking at clouds. 

Back on the grounded earth this hike is typical of The Dells, large granite boulders, scrub oaks, and deer and love grass. The birds were the occasional scrub jay and a local bird I don't know yet. I see it in our front yard. The bird is orange and black with white flecks or spots contrasting in its black  feathers. The birds eyes are also a bright orange. Thanks to the internet I learned it is a western spotted towhee. I like meeting this new bird. His song sounds a bit like a Mexican singer rolling his/her "r". 

Drawing of the Towhee 

A short hike but overall an enjoyable experience, rooted in imagination and always the case the hike washed the lazy away and we leave feeling fresh. 

Upper Pasture Trail #38 - Giant Alligator Juniper Trail

Giant Alligator Juniper Trail 

2/29/20 
4.7 mile 

This hike can be done as a spiritual act to celebrate the sacrifice of firefighters.  It is basically a gentle path to a Large Alligator Juniper. The large alligator juniper is a beautiful sight. I did feel a bit sad looking at it.  As I understand it 20 fire fighters saved the alligator tree's life in what was called the doce fire of 2013 . Then, unfortunately, a few days later, 18 of the same fire crew died in another fire. The tree now stands as symbolism for life, for what the fire crew were able to do before their lives were lost. This grandfather tree now stands alive and well covered in pens from fire departments and red bananas draped around the tree. 

Around the shrine there are others trees not so lucky, they are black and chard , they stand present in the area like ghosts, gentle reminders of impermanence.  

For us,  we began the hike by parking at Contreras trail parking lot then walking the main road to
trail-head #38.  The road to the trail-head was a bit too rugged for Chad's Prius. #wimpycarthatisgreatonfuel

The transition from Contreras trail parking lot  #38 was an up hill trek on a dirt road with beautiful views of Granite Mountain. I think this hike might be challenging in moist weather due to sticky mud building up on your shoes as on this date we could see where trucks of a rainy time left deep indents in the road. 

There was no evidence of trucks on #38 just on the road up to the trail. I enjoyed walking on the road but if you were with someone with a different fitness level taking a high clearance car to the trail head would defiantly cut out the difficulty.  

Once at the trail-head the hills were spotted with pines and juniper. There was just enough wind that the trees danced a bit back and forth. Mingus stopped to look at a dancing tree a few times not sure if it was the wind or alive. He looked at me, then at the tree, and cocked his head, and I followed suit, looking at Chad, then back at the tree. Chad our logical one said, "Yep that's a tree in the wind."

Maybe it was a local wind ghost? oooo eeee ooooo.... wind ghosts and firefighters seem to be contrasting types, wind fuels fire, firefighters put it out... 

In addition to the wind, there was a flock of blue birds, that seemed to be traveling with us moving from tree to tree. I did some research post hike and there is a man in Oregon named Hubert Prescott who created the Prescott Bluebird Recovery Project. He is in no way related to my new home in Prescott Az but his friend the Western Blue Bird was seen with a pack of its relatives,  juniper to jumper on #38. 

#38 had areas with evidence of erosion places you could see naked roots, loose soil, and cracks in the earth. Chad (a forest service hydrologist) told us the forest service crew plans to make repairs.  I wonder now if they are done?

A fun little fact is that this trail leads to places were cows frequent, evidence via cow-pies and even a salt lick.  I think it would be fun to share the trail with some cows but Mingus would probably think he was on job and heard them off. 

There was what Chad called a "tank" or small body of water created for cows. Mingus and Moly got in to goof off and It was amusing watching them navigate the water which clearly had a sticky bottom. 

We then walked next to blooming manzanita's February seems a bit early, I guess they were trying to get a jump on spring. Manzanita is one of my favorite plants. I love the dark red bark and its wavy lines contrasted with the green leaves. 

There was also a small stream next to the trail. Mingus and Moly enjoyed drinking and playing in the water and there was no worry for any one to run out of water to drink. 

The hike back to the car was just as nice the days weather was perfect. There was even a large raven that let me stand pretty close to him and take a photo. I realize now writing this here that there were so many existential symbols on this day. 

A phrase I love and think of often is from Mary Oliver in her poem A Summer Day "Tell me what will you do with your one wild and precious life?" For me, exploring the natural world is a good start. 

Willow Lake Loop Trail

Willow Lake Loop Trail
2/15/2020 

Our hike was just under 7 miles. 
The internet says this loop is 5.7. 

Its mid February in Prescott, Arizona and the weather can be defined as perfect. Something like 67 degrees with the sun out. Winter is leaving but not quite gone. The hike we chose on February 15th, 2020 was very close to Chad's home. His home that I moved into on February 7th. Yes very close to Valentines Day it's so romantic, and yea I know it was a bit nuts. Just ten months of dating and moving in, but I was sick of driving back and forth and we had dated a year or so twenty some years before. So here we are housemates. 

If you decide to hike this loop there are a few options of places to start, a dog park, a boat ramp, a pull off from Willow Lake road. We began by crossing a swampy field, walking along a rocky hillside to a big beautiful cottonwood with a bench under it. This tree stands close to the first sign that reads "follow the dots".  The trial is marked by spray painted white dots on the rocks to follow. 

I bowed to the tree in its winter nakedness in exchange for a long look at her boughs and off we looped. In the water we saw ducks, Canadian geese, great blue herring, and those water birds that look like black footballs with white beaks (coots) quacking, cooting and splashing about. Also while on the hike there was in informative sign that pointed out there are two kinds of cormorants present. One could be distinguished from the other by having more yellow on its beak. 

The landscape in this area is called "The Dells" which comes from the french word "dalles" meaning layers of rock . And true to the name Willow lake is surrounded by large granite boulders. The first three miles involves many scrambles over rocks. Which is fun and challenging .There are times a hiker feels small and humble as you slip through crevasses, huge rocks on either side of you. Other times the landscape feels foreign and quiet like the moon. We stopped and rested in a place where the only other movement we saw was a Steller's Jay dressed in his classic black and blue fathers and contrasted nicely to a field of yellow grass that had grown in shallow soil. It was a place where I felt as if we were the only people in the world cradled in rocks. 

At one point we descended down a long flight of wooden stairs to a stretch I was particularly fond of because there were large cottonwood trees and the ground was soft and muddy.  Present were two kinds of moss one that was a bright green and another lighter more earthy moss dressed in dew. Whenever I see moss I wish I was really small so I could stretch out on it and rest on it.  

                                                                                                          🙆

About mile 4 we came out of the boulders to a more urban area, there was a parking lot where the less mobile seeker of nature, or people just interested in a rest can picnic by Willow Lake can begin there journey, no need to scramble and you could take a wheel chair here. Also it is very beautiful, cottonwood trees line the edge of the water creating shade and a place to land a lawn chair. Having moved from the land of very little water, the lake is memorizing, the way it reflects the sky above, the hills in the distance, houses, the ducks, and the flocks of cormorants, it nearly took my breath away.

Dogs in trouble with Chad post fight 

At one point we found a spot to rest under the large cottonwoods and the dogs got into a scuffle which unsettled us both. They sound so terrifying when they fight. They are still adjusting  to being housemates and have a love-hate relationship with one another.  I have been told the older female is meant to be the boss, and Moly has been working hard at letting everyone know this is a fact. Fortunately the fight did not last long and no one was injured (except perhaps my nervous system). 

Me with trail mix 

At about mile six I stop to eat trail-mix. Its so delicious we call it "crack" even if full, a person wants to shove handfuls into their face and in that moment I was hungry. I felt like Golum from the Lord of the Rings "my precious" peanuts, M&M, raisins, and other nuts. In front of me I watched Ming and Moly frolick together in the water like best friends, their scuffle forgotten as I scowled at Chad for taking my photo. 

When I got back to the house I went strait to take a nap. A long hike can wear a person out. I drifted off to sleep with visions of boulders and water decorated by ducks in my head.