Beautiful Hike

One reason we chose to spend a few days in Camp Verde so we could go hiking near Sedona. Tuesday we drove about 30 miles to Sedona and another 10 miles up Oak Creek Canyon to the West Fork hike. This is an extremely popular hike, but it was worth it to encounter all the people on the trail because the trail is so beautiful. The area up Oak Creek Canyon is called Red Rock Country. This is what we saw as we approached the trail head.



The hike follows the West Fork of Oak Creek, which is heavily lined with trees. It would be even more beautiful later in the season when the trees leaf out.



The canyon walls tower over the creek.




The trail crosses the stream 13 times. We hiked a little over 2 1/2 miles before turning around, meaning we had 10 crossings each direction. The stream isn't deep, but it did require moving from rock to rock to get across. Our hiking sticks helped immensely to keep my feet dry. We hike with the diamond willow hiking sticks John bought in Alaska and carved. Six times during the hike other people on the trail commented on how beautiful they are.



We did see wildflowers in the canyon, though they are different from what we saw in the desert, they are pretty.



One young hiker found a small snake. It was interesting to see, but you would never catch me holding a snake, even one that small.



We were so grateful we could spend the day surrounded by so much of God's beautiful creation. What a blessing.

We had considered stopping in Sedona on our way home, but the town was just packed with tourists. Easter week must be the height of spring break in this part of the state. We visited Sedona in October 2009. If you have never been there, check out my blog on that visit. Yesterday, I did get a picture of a flowering plum tree.



And we saw lots and lots of these pink jeeps that take people sightseeing in the area.