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West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon Day Hike
Secret Mountain Wilderness
October 2, 2004
by Chuck Parsons
For most people, hiking the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon in the
spectacular Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness area north of
Sedona is one of those very special and unique hiking experiences
in Arizona that always seems to stand out and becomes one of almost
everyone's favorite hiking spots in a state noted for having some
of the best hiking to be found anywhere in the country. This area
is even more special to some folks, since it is one of several
"vortex sites" in the Sedona area. Whatever your beliefs
or thoughts on that subject, the unique and almost spiritual beauty
of this area cannot be denied by anyone among us.
Six members of the Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club
(Darleen Lindquist, Linda Elliott, Wayne Shimata, Elaine Cobos,
Ben Velasquez, and hike leader Chuck Parsons) gather at the Call
of the Canyon day-use area, three miles beyond Sedona's famous
Slide Rock State Park on Highway 89A. The trailhead for West Fork
starts from the west side of the parking area. We can tell
immediately that this is going to be a special day for hiking.
The smell of fall is in the air on this crisp, clear morning with
sparkling, deep blue cobalt skies overhead and the sweet smell of
burning wood wafting lightly through the air. The air temperature
stands at a cool and refreshing 60 degrees on this Arizona fall
morning, and it feels good to be alive.
Famous novelist Zane Grey, who spent much of his time in Arizona
and maintained a cabin in Woods Canyon on the Mogollon Rim north
of Kohls Ranch, where he wrote several of his best western
adventure novels, including Under the Tonto Rim and To
the Last Man, had a special love for this area as well. In
the early 1920's he stayed here as a guest of friend Carl Mayhew
and penned the words to The Call of the Canyon in the cabin
– and later lodge – that stood on this beautiful spot
so many years ago. Grey would later convince some of his Hollywood
connections to film a movie based on The Call of the Canyon,
which became the first of many movies, television commercials, and
later music videos to use the charm and mystique of Sedona and Oak
Creek Canyon as a backdrop.
"The red walls seemed to dream and wait under the blaze of
sun; the heat lay like a blanket over the still foliage; the birds
were quiet; only the murmuring stream broke the silence of the canyon.
Never had Carley felt more the isolation and solitude of Oak Creek
Canyon."
Zane Grey, The Call of the Canyon
We soak in our surroundings, as we put on our hiking boots and adjust
our day packs. We are in no particular hurry on this beautiful morning,
since this is not a place to be worried or pressed for time. I feel
almost guilty, as I glance at my own watch from time to time, and
consider putting it away for the day, but cannot seem to escape
totally our obsession with time and schedules. We pose for a few group
pictures and wait a bit more for three more arrivals in our group.
Finally, at about 10:00 a.m. we decide to start out and let the others
catch up with us later on the trail. Some of us decide to take a short
detour off the main trail and explore the ruins of the old cabin,
which exchanged hands several times in the early 1900s, before Carl
Mayhew acquired it in 1925 and expanded it as a grand hunting and
fishing lodge.
The lodge was virtually self-sufficient, with it's abundant supply of
fresh fruits and vegetables grown on site, as well as fresh eggs and
chicken from a chicken coop set into a shallow cave, which can still
be seen today. The U.S. Forest Service purchased the property in 1969
as a historic site, only to have it burn to the ground in 1980. It's
hard to imagine now how it must have looked those many years ago in
its heyday, as we walk through the overgrown ruins and study the
still-standing brick fireplace and remnants of low-lying brick walls
that must have once been part of a quiet courtyard, with a round portal
style window looking into the surrounding woods. Was this where Zane
Grey sat, as he looked out over this special setting and used the unique
imagination only a novelist possesses to lay out the story line and
write the words to his book? Did he take long walks after dinner and
travel along much of the same trail that we will be hiking today?
The remains of the old apple orchard still continue to supply small,
sweet apples to passing hikers and visitors, as well as foraging
creatures of the forest. Despite years of neglect, the ancient apple
trees still stand proudly against the blue Arizona sky and defy both
time and progress. It is with great reluctance that we finally say
goodbye to this setting and strike out once again on the main trail
to catch up with the others.
We had earlier crossed a long steel and wooden footbridge spanning
Oak Creek, before reaching the ruins of the lodge, located about a
quarter-mile from the trailhead. Shortly beyond the lodge, we
encounter the first of many crossings over West Fork Creek, as the
trail closely parallels the creek for most of its length. The water
level is low enough today to allow easy crossings over the stepping
stones in the creek bed. The West Fork of Oak Creek actually runs
for almost twelve miles, as it penetrates deep into the upper end
of the canyon, draining all of the canyon's runoff waters directly
into Oak Creek. The vast majority of hikers, including today's
Trailblazers, will hike to about the 3.25-mile point. From there,
the canyon walls narrow down to the point where the creek touches
the walls on either side, forcing the hiker to slough through the
creek bed from that point on.
The variety and mixture of vegetation along the full length of this
trail is nothing short of amazing and one of the big attractions to
this area, in addition to the more obvious and colorful towering
canyon walls. Prickly pear cactus, agave, pinon pine, juniper, and
hackberry mark the lower stretches of the trail, gradually
transitioning into sycamore, cottonwood, box alder, mountain ash,
and bigtooth maple, in addition to huge ponderosa pine and Douglas
fir, as we move further up the canyon. The lush mixture of riparian
plants along the full length of West Fork Creek, ranging from
maidenhair ferns and thick clumps of horsetails growing right out
of the creek bank, to dense stands of dogwood and boxwood, all add
to this wonderfully eclectic and colorful floral paradise. One of
the oldest and most primitive of land plants, the horsetail grew
in abundance in the ancient forests and swamps of this region, when
the signature red rocks of these canyons was being deposited in
deep sandstone layers over 100 million years ago. This summer's
rich crop of emerald green ferns now stands brown and brittle,
testimony to the freezing nighttime temperatures and early morning
frosts that autumn is now bringing to these higher elevations.
As we continue to move upstream, criss-crossing the creek from time
to time, we begin to witness the fall colors this hike is famous
for. Although we are probably at least two weeks away from the peak
colors of the season, we begin to see some scarlet and crimson
coloring spreading downward from the crowns of some of the bigtooth
maples, while others are already sporting their full fall colors
and are now fully ablaze in a cloak of bright crimson. We also spot
a few scattered mountain ash with their bright yellow fall colors.
As we hit the more deeply shaded areas along the trail, we can feel
an almost immediate drop in temperature. At one point, I glance at
my thermometer and am surprised to see it hovering at 55 degrees.
Some among us are no doubt wishing they were now wearing long
sleeves. However, as soon as we emerge into the filtered sunlight
that is more common to most of this trail, the temperature rises
again to between 60 and 65. The warmest temperatures we would see
on this day would be around 70 degrees. One could not ask for more
perfect hiking weather or a more beautiful area to hike in.
As we are admiring another colorful bigtooth maple after yet another
creek crossing about a mile from the trailhead, we hear approaching
voices and are greeted by our last three hikers — Kathleen
Green, Emie Sorongon, and Don L. They had spent the previous night
in a nearby cabin and gotten a somewhat late start in getting to the
trailhead, luckily finding one of the very last parking spaces.
We are now nine in number, as we continue hiking and exploring deeper
into West Fork Canyon. The trail starts to take on some twists and
turns, as we climb and then descend again, always following the creek
and looking for the rock cairns that indicate our crossing points.
We occasionally spot a colorful butterfly or bird flitting about,
and I discover Kathleen sitting alone by the creek at one point,
carefully observing a small butterfly with delicate pale blue wings,
as it sits perched on one of her shoelaces. She is careful not to
disturb it, as she admires its delicate colors. It seems to have
found a temporary safe haven and is reluctant to move.
At about the two-mile point we come across the first of several
massive rock shelves overhanging the creek bed, creating an almost
tunnel-like effect in some places. These so-called "wave
caves" bear a striking resemblance to a huge ocean wave caught
and frozen in time. Although the seas did deposit these sandstone
layers many millions of years ago, this is the work of periodic
flash floods that rip their way through these canyons, as they
undercut and sculpt the soft sandstone undersides of the canyon
walls. Although very hard to imagine on this peaceful day, as we
walk alongside and through a creekbed only inches deep in places,
monster flash floods are the most dangerous aspect of hiking these
narrow canyons. This tranquil and shallow stream can change in a
matter of minutes to an angry, roaring torrent of muddy, raging
water up to twenty or more feet deep, as it slams through the canyon
like a giant pile driver, destroying and obliterating virtually
everything in its path. Nature's raw power is very evident here
today.
Additional evidence of flash flooding can be seen in the large,
tangled brush piles that we are occasionally forced to navigate
over or around, as we make our way ever deeper into the depths of
West Fork Canyon. These brush piles also contain tree trunks up
to two feet or more in diameter, as well as large tree stumps and
assorted rocks and boulders, all haphazardly jumbled together in
larger and larger piles and deposited in place by the flood waters
that help carve and shape this canyon. Further upstream, beyond
our view, huge logjams and boulders the size of cars and buses
block passage through the canyon. Deep, wall-to-wall pools of cold,
dark water also force the hiker to revert to swimming in some areas.
While traversing a couple of these brush piles, I spot both a
garter snake and a colorful king snake, in addition to an
unidentified skink, as they all quickly slither out of my way into
the safety and security of the under brush. This lush riparian
habitat supports a wealth of both plant and animal species that
thrive in this streamside environment — a rich oasis of life
surrounded by a much drier and harsher outside world.
We eventually come to what appears to be the end of a box canyon
with no outlet, but the trail curves away and leads us on a
meandering course for another half-mile or so. We discuss stopping
for lunch now, but decide to push on to the turn-around point for
most hikers. We take a short spur trail to investigate another
wave cave and discover strange ridges and pockets carved into the
walls about eight to ten feet above the trail. Additional signs
of nature's handiwork in the form of flash floods? Natural erosion?
Perhaps. It's also interesting to note that a large ridge
overlooking the south side of the upper canyon is referred to as
Buzzard Ridge. One has to wonder if this is a good location for
these winged scavengers because of the abundant food sources in
the area, especially after major flash flooding.
The time is now almost 12:30, as we round a final bend in the
trail and come to an abrupt end at creekside. From here the trail
simply vanishes, as the canyon walls close in and West Fork Creek
is forced to flow within the narrow confines of the upper canyon.
This spot marks the turn-around point for the vast majority of
hikers and is a great place to stop, admire the view, and enjoy
lunch amid the boulders and trees. We park ourselves on the
handiest boulders we can find and sit down to lunch. Darleen is
the only one to bring along a pair of sandals for hiking the creek,
so after lunch she wades out to the middle of the stream and starts
hiking up the canyon, soon disappearing around a bend up ahead.
A group of backpackers with a couple of friendly and happy labs
starts out soon after, telling us they will be spending the night
in the canyon at one of several campsites upstream. A few minutes
later Darleen returns and sits down to dry and warm her ice-cold
feet. We all gather our gear together and start our return hike
along the same trail, carrying away great memories and pictures of
another memorable hiking experience in the beautiful Red Rock
Secret Mountain Wilderness area surrounding Sedona.
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