Home Draw Tank Trail

Sarah came up with a Jeep tour from our Off Road book. The trail was called the Home Draw Tank Trail. It was rated fairly difficult at times and had good scenery. It starts on a dirt road east of I-17. The roads work their way up and down narrow pathways over a lot of mud, rocks and creek crossings.
This one looked deeper than it was, but you never know what is on the river bottom until you drive into it.


Here I am waiting for our official photographer to catch up to us...



Almost as soon as we got to an open area, Judy spotted a herd of elk about 100 yds away making their way back into the treeline. I took a quick shot and blew it up so you can see a few elk in the bottom left.

No wonder they head for the trees as it seems that if they are out in the open, they become lunch or dinner for another critter. The open area was strewn with bleached bones.

Notice the skull on the right in this photo

Much of the rest of the trail was in open areas with lots of jagged rocks in the way. The county roads were not well marked, in fact not at all, so somewhere along the line we missed a turn. We ended up among a few shacks and corrals with a solitary bull standing in our way.


We went around him and found the road by going into and out of one of the corrals. Or so we thought. That road eventually evaporated so we back tracked and found another that also evaporated. At this point, I was getting a little nervous about gas. I had plenty, but not if we kept going in circles and if we hit too many gas guzzling mud climbs. (of course, I kept my mouth shut for a while about the gas. No point worrying anyone else).

Just before we stopped for lunch I spotted another elk antler next to the road.

Tony, Sarah and Antler on the Home Draw Tank Trail
What are the chances? We found one 2 years ago and then another one, even bigger, the other day. Now both Judy and Sarah have a souvenir they don't know what to do with.

Finally, by using our garmin and Bill's iphone gps, we got back on the right track. We had missed a turn near the old shacks and bull. If we had only checked the book, it told us to pay attention. Oh well.

The rocky path became a dirt road with beautiful views toward the south on our way back to Camp Verde.



We gassed up, bought a couple of ice cream sandwichs and headed home. I had "made" a pulled pork so we stopped at Basha's supermarket to buy the rest of the fixins'. We finished things off by dining on the Sullivan's porch and enjoying a fire before calling an end to a great day.


Oh, if you are wondering what ever happened to that elk skull from the previous photo. Can you guess?

Check this out!




Soon to be on display on Judy's Artifact shelf in our kitchen. Good Grief.

Le Retour des Bornstains

This is the third year that Jacques and Claire have shared time with us here in Sedona. They love the air, landscape, hiking, everything. And Jacques likes to celebrate his birthday here. This year he celebrated HIS birthday by taking US out to lunch at the El Tovar Lodge on the rim of the Grand Canyon. What a way to celebrate. We had a great lunch...


(I guess I could have had them actually pose for this picture.)

and the scenery, Fuggedaboudit!


They both love hiking so we were on the trails a lot. Here are some photos of our hikes.
On the backside of Courthouse Rock

Jacques and I at Chicken Point on the Broken Arrow Trail

Decision making on Cowpie Trail

The hikers coming down from one of the "cowpies"

Page was on Jacque's list this year. So we packed up early one morning and headed north. Unfortunately, Claire had come down with a bronchitis so she couldn't make the trip. It took a little over 3 hours to get to Antelope Canyon in Page. Jacques was astonished at the natural beauty of the slot canyon and only regretted that Claire wasn't there.
Here is Jacques entering the darkness of the slot canyon.


And a great photo of Jacques, Judy and me taken by our Navajo guide, Buddy.
From there we made a quick stop at the Glen Canyon dam which created Lake Powell and controls the eastern end of the Colorado. Our last stop before heading back to Sedona was another amazing natural thing of beauty.
What are these 4 looking at?

or these guys perched on the edge of a 1500 ft cliff?

Yup, you guessed it, Horseshoe Bend

But, the two weeks passed quickly and before you knew it they had to pack up their rental and head to Phoenix for their long flight back to Paris. A bientot.

Bushwhacking at Midgely Bridge

One day Kaleigh and I decided to investigage the creek that runs near our house to see if it could be crossed below the Midgely Bridge. There is a trail across the creek that can only be reached if one hops on boulders or jumps over logs and branches to get to the other side. As the weather had really warmed up, I wore shorts for the first time hiking (why do I mention that, you ask. You'll see.). We quickly determined that the creek was a bit too high to try to ford it. At least I did, Kaleigh was game to give it a try.

The view of the bridge above was really interesting and so we set out to do a little exploring without crossing the creek.

There was no real trail on this side of the creek so we made our way over some slick rock and rubble from flooding. There was a shallow, man-made aquaduct that carried water somewhere that was partway up the cliff towards the road. Things seemed pretty serene there and we enjoyed a couple of photo ops before deciding what to do next.

At this point we had hacked our way about 1/4 mile from the bridge downstream towards our house. I foolishly mentioned to Kaleigh that we could try to work our way along the creek to the house. She jumped all over that idea. Judy and I had worked our way partway toward the bridge from our place so, even though there was no trail, I felt we could find our way. Big mistake.
We immediately hit thick brambles and thorny bushes. We thought about balancing on the edge of the aquaduct but it was too narrow and we would have either fallen into the water or down into the brush. (the water in the aquaduct was only 1/2 foot deep at the most).
So we struggled on finding lots of rubble that washed down the creek from the camp grounds in Oak Creek Canyon. We even came across parts of cars that either came over the cliff or washed down stream.

As we struggled through the thorns we heard someone calling to us from the other side of the creek. The rushing water made a lot of noise so it was difficult to hear what he was saying. I finally figured he was asking us if were were lost. I just yelled back that we were not lost, just stupid. He shrugged his shoulders and went on his way.
We had no choice but to keep going as we were closer to where I thought our house was than to the bridge. At one point, we could see what looked like beaten down brush that lead back up to the aquaduct. I asked Kaleigh to climb up to see if there was a way out. I didn't want to have to climb up and then come back down. She got to the edge of the aquaduct and stepped into it (remember it was not too deep). I yelled, "how deep is the water?" and she yelled back, "it's dry!". It had dried up a little bit upstream. All along we could have been walking in a little water then a dried up aquaduct instead of bushwhacking our way through the briars and the brambles.
Can you see the scratches on Kaleigh's legs from our hike?

As I was not quite as light on my feet as Kaleigh, I got a few scratches myself. Can you see them?

We made it to the house without further damage but I snuck by Judy to take a quick shower to wash away some of the evidence of our hike before she had a chance to comment on our stupidity.

Kaleigh and Mia's Excellent Adventure

Recently, our niece, Kaleigh, and her roommate from UNC spent their Spring Break with us in Sedona. I thought they were supposed to go to Cancun or someplace wild but they seemed to want to take in the sights of the southwest. It was clear they were on student budgets as they must have found the cheapest flight to AZ from NC via NY. They got in about 10:30pm and we arrived at the terminal just as they walked out the door.
Later in the week, we decided to take the Mund's Wagon Trail for a good hike. This trail is about 4 miles long uphill (one-way) starting at the Schnebley Hill parking lot. As I was the least conditioned of the 3 of us, I decided that Judy would drive us up Schnebley Hill road and drop us off as close to the end of the trail as possible. We reached the gate that closes the Schnebley Hill road and the 3 of us walked up to the trail while Judy and Dottie watched us from a scenic overlook. We found where the trail ended and headed back down Schnebley Hill. Just after we started, storm clouds blew in quickly and soon we were in the middle of a hail storm. We could see the blue sky off in the distance so we figured it wouldn't last too long. It was really cool to see how quickly water funnelled down over the redrocks. We managed to make it over some of the slick rock and through some mini flash floods and worked our way down the trail taking time for a few photo ops. Sorry about the water on the lens... You couldn't come to the Sedona area without a visit to one of the Indian ruins. So, we visited Hunanki, a very interesting spot. I always include a little off-road adventure when we visit this location, so I subjected the crew to the back road to 89A. There might have been a few puddles along the way. Next on their "todo" list was Antelope Canyon in Page. We decided to do an overnight and include the Grand Canyon in the trip. We went directly to Upper Antelope Canyon. this was a real treat for Kaleigh as she had seen some photos and this was high on her list. The first steps into the slot canyon are a bit intimidating. Pictures don't always do justice to the slot canyons, but maybe this quick video will give it some perspective.

After the slot canyon we stopped by Horseshoe Bend where the Colorado works its way around a 270 degree turn on its way to the Grand Canyon. Here is Kaleigh looking over the edge. I think that is my shadow on the right, but I look a little emaciated.
Unfortunately, Kaleigh lost a memory card for her camera somewhere near the edge. We came back later when she realized she lost it but we couldn't find it. To provide solace to us all, Mia bought pizzas for dinner which we ate at the hotel while Mia studied for an exam. The next morning, we took another look but to no avail. Photos from her whole senior year at UNC were lost on that card.
Oh well, on to the Grand Canyon. We stopped first at the overlook for the Little Colorado River Gorge where we bought a flute for Bob and Evie Saunders and took in the beautiful scenery.
Once again, at the canyon, Kaleigh was in the forefront of things. I suppose she could have gotten closer and given me more goosebumps.

And here is a shot of the 3 of us enjoying this magnificent natural phenomenom.
It took us about 2 hours to get back to Sedona from the Canyon. I was the only one who stayed awake for most of the trip. Unfortunately, Mia was still studying for an exam for a teaching position and she had to leave the next day to get back in time for the test. It was great having her visit and enjoy the beautiful southwest.

Recent Company

We've had a few rounds of company this year and have really enjoyed them. It is always fun to show people around who love to travel and do things and who have not had the fortune to have visited Sedona.

Henri and Gigi

Our first guests were our friends Henri and Gigi. They were great company and up for anything. Even with a bit of bad weather they still relaxed and enjoyed themselves. Gigi was tenacious with a jigsaw puzzle we brought with us.
But it wasn't all indoor activities. They spent some time in Flagstaff and we had a few good hikes including this one on Soldier's Pass, one of our favorites. Plus they treated us to dinner at our favorite family Mexican Restaurant, Casa Bonita in the Basha's strip mall.
Gigi works as a geologist so she was fascinated with the landscape and we took advantage of her knowledge. She and Judy stopped in some shops in Jerome and picked up some samples of copper. It was good to have someone assure us that the stones were legit.

Bob and Evie
After Henri and Gigi left, we welcomed our friends from Walpole, Bob and Evie Saunders. They jumped right into things by making two large pans of lasagna. We ate one over a couple of days and we are still saving the other one. It was great. The Pear Martinis on the deck weren't bad either.
They were really interested in seeing the Grand Canyon, so that was on their itinerary. But when they saw a brochure for Antelope Canyon in Page, they remembered that one of their daughters had raved about it. So, we heard them leave before 6am and didn't see them again til 8pm when they walked in the door with a pizza. They had managed to cram in a tour of Upper Antelope Canyon and the Grand Canyon in one day. Quite a trip but shows it can be done.
Bob took about 800 pictures (is that a record?). They were in awe of the scenery. There was some snow on the ground when they arrived so we took some photos with snow on the red rocks. Beautiful.
We took Bob and Evie to our favorite spot for a picnic and passed by the remains of a steer that we have been watching for a couple of years. Judy and Evie picked through the bones until Judy found a nice leg bone to bring home.
We continued up the trail for our lunch sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the colorful landscape.

The morning they were leaving, I took Bob on one last Jeep ride to the Broken Arrow trail. I've blogged on this one before so I won't belabor things. Suffice it to say that when we returned to the house, Bob excused himself to change his underwear.
Then they were off for a visit to the Sonoran Desert Museum and the San Xavier del Bac Mission in Tucson. They had a great time and so did we.

Dottie Folino

Next, our friend and neighbor, Dottie Folino, joined us. Dottie was very accommodating as she shared some of the guest facilities with my niece, Kaleigh, and her roommate from UNC, Mia (more on them in another post). She walks a lot with friends at home, so we got her right out on a nice trail called Marg's Draw. It starts as Schnebly Hill and passes beneath such formations as Snoopy Rock. A great way to start the week.
Dottie really enjoyed the Indian Rock Art at Hunanki ruins
and loved the "moderate" off road experience on the way back to civilization.
She capped off the week by taking us all out to dinner at Judy's favorite restaurant.

It was bound to happen!

It's been a while and I have lots of stuff to add to the blog, but I thought I'd get this one in while it was still fresh.

While our niece, Kaleigh, was visiting ( more on that later ), we worked our way through some back roads to a place called Robber's Roost. Supposedly, it was named that because robbers and bootleggers hid there and could have a clear view across the landscape to see anyone approaching. It was a really cool spot but not for the faint of heart. Kaleigh was ahead of us and had branched off to climb to the top of the formation. Meanwhile, Judy and I hit what looked like the end of the trail as the next steps would bring us along a very narrow, slanted bit of slip rock with a wall on one side and a 150 foot, or so, drop on the other. I said this can't be it. I wanted no part of those few steps as I couldn't see what was around the corner. We eventually found Kaleigh. She wanted to take another look at the narrow path and, after some preliminary scouting, convinced me that it got a bit wider and flatter around the corner. She went ahead and I gingerly made my way across the narrow path behind her and, sure enough, it got flatter and brought us to a unique sight. There was a cave with a stone wall in front and a natural window looking out over the area. Here is Kaleigh making her way along the wide portion of slip rock and then sitting in the window.


On our way back to town, we took another back road and saw a white pickup and yellow tent out in the wilderness. We made a wide circle around it and worked our way up a rocky, narrow trail.
This is when it happened. I must have hit a good sized rock and slid into a tree root because I felt a bump, heard a thump and then SSSSSSSSSSssssssssss. I drove another 10' or so to get on level land and by then my tire was totally flat. I had cut a 2" long gash in the sidewall of the right rear tire. We were about 20 miles from civilization, but luckily I had two terrific helpers who offered all kinds of advice and assistance.


At this point the white pickup came up the trail behind us. I started to wave it around but a woman stepped out to say she had seen us go up the hill and stop and she was just checking on us. She told us her life story in about 15 minutes. She was out camping to meditate and fast, in preparation for doing her thesis on Art Therapy. She said she used to live in Phoenix but got fed up with city life, sold her Harley and moved to Jackson Hole for the peaceful solitude. For someone who wanted a solitary existance in the middle of nowhere, she sure talked a lot.
Last but not least, here is the flat mounted on the back of the Jeep with a pencil sticking through the sidewall. I sent this photo to my brother John, at Sullivan Tire, so he could give me an idea how badly I was going to get screwed when replacing the tire.