August 7-8, 2026
With a 12 hour drive from Almont to Tucson looming, we decided to split the long drive into 2 days.
But, where to stay?
I had a dear friend from southern California who sadly passed away from cancer a few years ago. Toward the end of his life, he started making regular trips to Sedona as he found it relaxing. During the last conversation I had with him, we started making plans to meet up there, him from SoCal, and me from ABQ. Sadly, he succumbed to his illness shortly after and the trip never came to fruition.
So, here we were five years later with the opportunity to meet up in Sedona, even if only spiritually.
Oak Creek Canyon
The 13 or so miles leading from Flagstaff directly to Sedona are through the magnificent Oak Creek Canyon. The drive through stunning red rock cliffs, pine forests and the namesake Oak Creek rambling next to highway 89A made for an absolutely marvelous ride.
Sadly, the pull-offs and scenic overlooks were all taped off, preventing parking, so we did not have any opportunities to stop and take pictures.
We had some time to kill before we were able to check in to the hotel where Brandy had reserved a room for us, so of course, we took a side trip to the local Goodwill. While Brandy went in and shopped, I walked Ash around the parking lot to stretch his legs.
Brandy came out with nothing to show from her excursion so we headed down Hwy 179, making one last pit stop at the Chapel of the Holy Cross, a Roman Catholic chapel built in the 1950s right into the red rocks of the surrounding desert. Even being the atheist I am, I sure do love religious architecture.
From there, we continued down the highway to our lodging for the night, the Red Agave Resort where walking out of the door to our room, we were greeted with this view.
The resort offers a trailhead to several trails right across the courtyard, one that I took Ash on a couple of times for him to do his business.
Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte
Right across from the Red Agave Resort is a trailhead where numerous trails approach and encircle Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte, which sit directly next to each other. Saturday morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise, I put on my Asics and drove across the highway to the trailhead, parked near the only other car in the lot, paid my day use fee, and headed down the trail.
My intention was to take the entire Bell Rock Pathway to Big Park Loop, a 4.2 mile jaunt that would have me circle both landmarks. There is a short, 1 mile trek to the base of Bell Rock before it starts circumnavigating the pair of buttes.
As the sun rose, it illuminated the red rocks giving the entire landscape a warm glow that helped empower the energy vortex.
I continued along the trail as it passed between the massive hill and the highway. I marveled both at the immense power of it, as well as how close to it I was walking.
The path wound back behind the buttes when I looked at the clock and realized, I was WAY too far from the end of the trail to finish it. I had run the clock out taking pics and vids so I had to turn back after only having completed about a mile and a half of the trail.
As I made my way back the way I’d come, I realized the trail was becoming more populated, more and more people hiking, biking, and running the trail.
Soon, I wound up back in the parking lot at the trailhead and saw there were a TON more cars than when I’d embarked on the trail.
I hopped back in Clyde, headed south for some coffee and went back to Red Agave to pick Brandy up.
Re-Hike and Goodwill
With a mere three hours’ drive from Sedona to our final destination in Tucson, we had plenty of time to kill so Brandy got ready, we hopped back into Clyde, and went back across the street.
We had to park a little further from the trailhead this time, and when we did, we saw this little fella meandering about the lot.
People were wise enough to ignore him and moved on.
Brandy and I made our way back to the trailhead and headed back up the trail I’d just hiked.
The sun was higher in the sky by this time, and as a result, it was getting warmer, climbing to the triple-digit temps promised for the day. We made it that first half mile to the base of Bell Rock before Brandy had enough and asked to turn back, so we did.
Beat from the activity and the heat, she took a seat at the trailhead while I went to retrieve the truck. By the time I got back up front to get her, the coyote had followed to the main parking lot.
He was skittish, but too familiar with humans which kind of worried me a little. I know how that story ends.
Anyway, I gave my day pass to someone about to pay for a new one and Brandy and I headed out to return to the Goodwill.
Two doors down from the thrift store is a crepe shop, Sedona Bistro & Crepes, where I popped in for a banana foster crepe.
Once I’d stuffed my face with a way-too-big crepe, I walked next door to meet Brandy, finish up shopping with her, then back to Red Agave to collect Ash and check out.
Montezuma Castle National Monument
With still plenty of time to spare, we stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument on our way out of town. There was very little interest from Brandy to visit this stop so I ran in to the Visitor’s Center, showed my soon-to-expire America the Beautiful Pass, and ran up to the signature cliff dwelling. I snapped a few pictures, went back to the visitor’s center, bought a few trinkets to add to the ever-growing shelf of ephemera, and ran back to the truck with Brandy and Ash waiting, and we were back on the road to Tucson.
Conclusion
As I mentioned in my previous post, we did more in our short time in Sedona than we did in the whole short week we were in Montrose. Sedona was beautiful – even Brandy liked it. Alarming, considering how averse she is to desert landscapes.
we are both looking forward to a return trip to spend some more time there, get more hikes in when it isn’t a bazillion degrees, and see what else Sedona has to offer.
Pictures from the stop are in the usual location, in the PD, check those out, then stand by for my next post where I checked off MLB stadium #9 off my Stadium Chase list.
Until then!
-Phil