To Korea and Beyond: August 2015

View of Courthouse Butte from Cathedral Rock Trail

We only had a short day in Sedona with more than enough to do in a week. We first stopped at a bike rental with nearby trails. It turns out that they close really early in the summer and at 2:30 we would not have gone far by the time we would have needed to return, so we all decided to come back a few days later on our return trip when we were passing through Sedona again.

At of the foot of the trail with Cathedral Rock in the background

The next place we headed to was Cathedral Rock. The hike is only around a mile long but it requires some nice climbing. A soon as we arrived we started hearing thunder nearby. It was in middle of monsoon season and quick thunder showers are always imminent. In fact, we passed by many storms on the road. We certainly did not want to be out in the open when the storm hit, so we headed back into our car and went on the road yet again. And with that, our already short day just got shorter!

Driving trough the "Red Rock Country" to Huckaby Trail

The next place we drove to was Huckaby Trail. The 2.6 mile long trail includes views of Oak Creek and Sedona. After walking through one of the dried up creeks (there was still a bit of mud in places) we walked a bit more until the vista and headed back after a short snack and picture break.

View from Huckaby Trail

We could have continued on Huckaby trail but I really wanted to get back to Cathedral Rock. Thank God the weather was much better but now we were racing the clock to finish the hike before dark. I am so glad we went back because not only were the views stunning but the hike itself was so much fun. The terrain was steep with smooth rocks. There was a lot of climbing up rocks and sliding on the way back down.

Climbing the steep trail (and not even the steepest part!)

There was this one area where the trail goes up this really steep area. I wish I can find out how how that particular climb is, but the elevation change for the entire hike is somewhere between 600 and 700 feet.

Looking down the steep trail during sunset.

At that point it was past sunset and we still had one more stop to make before we continued on the road so we climbed back down hoping to return again someday and then made our way to the airport in Sedona.

Besides going to check out the tiny airport, we also stopped at the lookout point next to it. At around 4800 ft in elevation, the lookout offers an aerial view of the city of Sedona. It was already dark as we were driving up the steep and winding road leading to the mesa. We passed a few cars on their way down but we were the only ones going up. The parking lot was completely abandoned and we had the entire lookout to ourselves, or so we thought. As we were taking in the views we suddenly heard "You guys got here at the best time!" It took us a moment to locate where the voice came from. A young man was sitting among the bushes camouflaged by the darkness of the night. Even after our eyes adjusted to the dark, it was still difficult to make him out. We may have come after sunset but we missed the packed crowds and had a quiet night view of the city.

Read about more adventures HERE

Check out more stunning photos below: