This, however, is one of those hikes that I can't figure out how in the world Mike ever found it. There are good things and bad things about hikes like that. The bad thing is that they are always miles out on dirt roads. There are also a lot of cattle guards - extremely stressful for poor Slugger. The good side however is that since it is so far out on a dirty little road, it is doubtful you'll see anyone else there. The good definitely outweighs the bad!
This hike isn't exactly in Sedona. But it is somewhere in the surrounding area. I didn't notice any signs at all so I can't even tell you the name of this hike. But I hope you enjoy the scenery anyway. I found that this was another place where it is impossible to capture the beauty of it in pictures - but I tried to do my best.
When we very first started the hike, Wazzu found a log that she was sure was hiding a little animal. The second the other dogs saw her under the log, they all had to run over and help.
The were all scurrying around the log and taking turns being underneath.
This was the first time that Boogie really showed much interest in what the other dogs were looking at.
But certainly the most determined was Slugger. Quite some time after the other dogs had given up, Slugger was still there. And now he was determined. He started taking big chunks of log in his mouth and ripping them off the log.
Here you can see a very large piece that he tore off the log - but he wasn't done.
Look at all the pieces he tore off! Whoever is living there now has a little more air conditioning.
Just after I took this picture, a little ground squirrel came running out of the log. All four dogs took off after it but it was way too smart for them and managed to hide someplace else. The dogs were running every which way as fast as they could but the little guy easily outsmarted them.
It took some convincing to get them to move along and actually get started on our hike. Once we did get them going, they forgot all about the "almost" catch.
This hike has such a different look at the beginning than it does later on. It starts out as a very flat field with a beautiful view ahead.
As we continued down the trail we came close to a big red rock hill to our left.
As we progressed down the trail, we got closer to the canyon and the views just kept getting prettier. Off to the left there was a long rock hill that had a red streak down the middle.
As we expected, we were the only ones here - in fact, we were probably the only ones within 30 miles of here! The dogs were running this way and that, totally enjoying their freedom in their own private wilderness area. It's hard to see but all four dogs are zooming down the trail as happy as can be.
As you know by now, I love trail pictures. And since this trail changed quite a bit as we went along, I took pictures of the different parts of the trail. This was one of my favorite views as you could see many different kinds of trees and different color rock hills (and I could see my girl having fun).
Here the trail got much narrower and we started to go down into the trees.
As we continued along, the trail met the Verde River and continued along beside it.
At one point we came around a corner and there was this beautiful serene little pool area in the river.
This would be an awesome place for a picnic as you could sit on the rocks amid the beauty of the area and watch the dogs swim around in the pool - the water was plenty deep enough for swimming.
It was a great spot for the dogs to get a drink on a nice warm day. They all had fun splashing around for a while and just investigating all around the area. Slugger had fun watching the water, birds, and trees from atop the rocks.
After playing around in this beautiful area for a while we continued down the trail. The trail led us away from the river and we were hiking through a bit of a forest area. While I'm sure it's past the real pretty changing leaves, there were still some pretty colors.
I thought this tree with the white bark was very interesting among the other trees.
Around every turn there was something different that was pretty to see.
After about another 20 minutes of hiking we were surprised to come around the corner to see that we were once again at the river. It's scenes like this that makes we wonder how many beautiful places there are in the world that are rarely seen. This spot is so hidden and away from everything. But so beautiful and peaceful.
Who would have thought we'd see something like this from the looks of what we saw at the trailhead. Cool.
From here the trail went on a narrow ledge along the red rock.
At first the ledge was fairly wide, relatively speaking, but it got narrower as we went along.
At one point, where the ledge is too narrow for people, the trail actually stops and goes across the river. We could see the trail on the other side of the river but there was no way for us to get there without hip boots.
The dogs however had no trouble navigating their way across. How they knew that was the trial, I'll never figure out. They never tried to go across the water anywhere else. But here they didn't even wait for us - they just went across. Wazzu led the way.
Here is Sparkie coming back across to see why we aren't following!
Gosh, she makes it look so easy!
Poor little Boogie couldn't begin to make it off the first rock that led across the river. He whimpered and cried and tried to take a step off - but each time he realized there was no way he could do it. Oh, look at all the fun they are having over there that I'm missing out on!
Mike was kneeling on a rock next to the river enjoying this little waterfall. There was one little fountain of water that was shooting straight up that he wanted a picture of. Even though it was really cool, you can't really see it in the picture. Shucks. I guess you'll have to use your imagination.
One by one, all the dogs came back to this side of the river and joined Mike on the rock. Look at sweet little Boogie peaking around from the end.
Here is my wonderful family enjoying some time together in the beauty of the wilderness.
Speaking of my wonderful family, I have come to know that they are so talented. Don't believe me......well do you have anyone in your family that can stand on water? The water here is very deep and the dogs did a lot of swimming for sticks.
Boogie showed off his talent of running on a narrow ledge.
As you can see, I must have some talent as well as to take this picture I had to walk on these narrow ledges.
Here is The Great Thinker. Okay, I don't know how much thinking is really going on, but he did sit here for half an hour while the other dogs played.
Maybe he was just enjoying the beautiful scenery along with me.
On our way back we took a trail that was off to the side. It seemed to be more of a dry riverbed. We didn't go all that far along the trail but at one point we did stop and somehow Mike came up with this game that the boys just loved. Why it was so fun, I don't know. I actually think Mike enjoyed it more than the dogs even.
The boys were standing next to this very tall portion of a red rock wall. Mike started taking pebbles and throwing them high up on the wall. Slugger would look up each time Mike threw one.
Then the boys would look all around on the ground to see what fell. Slugger seemed to catch on a little bit as he'd look at Mike with big eyes waiting for the next pebble to be tossed. I didn't think we were ever going to leave as Mike thought this was hilarious and wanted to keep playing. I was beginning to wonder which one of my boys was the youngest!
Wow, it looks like I even came along on the trip.
It was a fantastic day. All six of us had a great time. I just love days like this.
I'll leave you with a couple more shots. This first one is for my little buddies, James and Shawn. Can you find Slugger?
I don't have anything to say about this picture - but it was just too cute not to include!
Debbie
11/29/07
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