GetTheFunOut

This is real and it's in Arizona.  Yes. Over Easter weekend some friends and I backpacked to Havasupai Falls on a 2 day/1 night trip.  It was an amazing trip and I highly recommend it.  In the past I felt it was a daunting excursion based on anecdotes from acquaintances who had made the trip.  Whether they had tales of woe about getting a permit, or waxed hyperbolic about the rigors of the hike, or showed their ethnocentric side about the Supai community, it just seemed like a trip that was quite an undertaking.  Well, it's not.  So, if you had the same impression as me go ahead and try again.

If there is one defining image of the Prescott landscape, it is the jutting Thumb Butte that watches over town and provides a beautiful foreground for sunsets (as well as an amazing vantage point from which to watch sunsets).  Like most of the Prescott wild, Thumb Butte is very accessible and crisscrossed with hiking and biking trails.  While this is the most obvious, and perhaps easily accessed trail, it can still provide a great workout as the main trial has over 500' in total elevation gain in its 2-mile round-trip loop.

This weekend I decided to escape to Sedona for an invigorating hike alone in the serene beauty of the red rocks.  Before leaving I jumped on AllTrails.com to pick a destination, with length and novelty being a priority.  The trail listed as "Schnebly Hill Trail to Seven Sacred Pools," coming in at a lengthy 13 miles sounded like a winner.  Because, really, who can say no to not one, not two, but SEVEN SACRED POOLS??!!  I had never been there, but luckily the AllTrails app included Google Maps coordinates so I expected to be able to navigate from point A to point B with ease. 

 I don't know about you, but when I hear the word "gulch" I think of things like ditches, gullies, and dry creek beds.  Apparently whoever named the Seven Mile Gulch trail is not familiar with that common ( and actual ) definition of gulch because this trail pretty much just goes up a mountain.  Also, the trail is 3.1 miles one-way.  (apparently the trail "follows" the gulch).  All sorts of confusion going on here. 

Little Horse Trail is a convenient hike with its trail head just past the Village of Oak Creek (the first town you pass if you are coming from the I-17).  The hike is fairly easy, with gradual elevation change and solid footing throughout.  For such an obviously located hike, the parking lot was almost empty and the trail was desolate when I hiked on a Wednesday; weekends will probably see a significant increase in traffic, though people may bypass this hike opting for the Chapel of the Holy Cross just up the street or the impression that they need to be more remote for a rewarding hike. View from the end. One of the "nuns" at sunset.  Contrary to any notion that you have to go out of your way for a rewarding experience, this hike culminates with of the more beautiful views I have seen in Sedona, but has only a few enjoyable views and photo opportunities on the way due to the trail being flat and shrouded by trees.  The hike is easy enough for even novices and woul

Wilson Canyon Trail. Easy hike, pretty scenery but closed in and only can see views of Wilson Mountain. Photography Photography options generally limited to micro-scenic shots. Good hike to just look and enjoy nature with several opportunities to see interesting geological features in creekbed. Red Rock pass required, but available at parking area. Parking very limited. I was able to hike only about one mile into the canyon on account of time constraints, and with fairly frequent stops for pictures and generally enjoying the scenery it took me one hour for the 2 mile round trip that included only about 150 feet of elevation gain. The trail appears to stretch about another mile from where I turned around, and likely includes more elevation gain. This is a good hike for beginners and anyone hoping to hike in solitude. Despite, or perhaps because of, the crowded trailhead I saw only a mountain biker as I hiked. This can easily be hiked in sneakers and jeans if you didn't plan to hike