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Courthouse Butte Loop Day Hike Sedona April 16, 2016 by Ted Tenny |
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| Gary, Ted, Michael, Debbie, Wendy, Joe |
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Six savvy Trailblazers started out from Bell Rock Trailhead on a clear, delightfully cool spring morning. We hiked the Bell Rock Pathway to the Courthouse Butte Loop, stopping to admire the rock formations and have our group picture taken by an excellent photographer who passed by. |
 The rock that rings like a bell. |
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Spring flowers were out, brightening our passage. We met many other hikers along the trail. |
 Capsella bursa-pastoris - Shepherd’s Purse |
 Dalea formosa - Featherplume |
 Calochortus ambiguus - Doubting Mariposa Lily [photo by Wendy] |
 Sphaeralcea angustifolia - Copper Globemallow [photo by Wendy] |
 Calochortus ambiguus - Doubting Mariposa Lily |
 Purshia stansburiana - Stansbury Cliffrose |
 Baileya multiradiata - Desert Marigold [photo by Wendy] |
 Gaillardia pinnatifida - Red Dome Blanketflower [photo by Wendy] |
 Bahia absinthifolia - Hairyseed Bahia |
 Glandularia gooddingii - Gooding’s Verbena |
 Sphaeralcea angustifolia - Copper Globemallow |
 Solanum elaeagnifolium - Silverleaf Nightshade |
 Baileya multiradiata - Desert Marigold |
 Dalea purpurea - Purple Prairie Clover |
 Echinocereus triglochidiatus - Claret Cup Cactus. [photo by Wendy] |
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On to the Muffin. Debbie, Wendy and Michael decided to climb it while Gary, Joe and Ted waited for them. Afterwards we took a brief detour on a side trail before hiking the Courthouse Butte Loop on west to its end. Then back to the trailhead. |
 Are you sure this slope is O.K.? |
 We’ll make it to the top. [photo by Joe] |
 Almost there. [photo by Wendy] |
 Michael, king of the mountain. [photo by Wendy] |
 Debbie climbs down from the Muffin. |
 Wendy and Michael climb down from the Muffin. |
 Joe, Gary, Wendy, Debbie, Michael |
 Wendy, at Courthouse Butte. |
 Rocks that broke off Courthouse Butte sure left it smooth. |
 Bell Rock is topped with a window. |
 Lunch at Tara Thai. [photo by Wendy] |
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Clouds rolled in at the end of the hike, but there was no rain. Everyone stopped for lunch at the Tara Thai Café on our way out of Sedona. → More pictures, by Wendy Rennert. |
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Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, Phoenix, Arizona
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updated July 7, 2020