Due to the complexity and difficulty of this trail, I limited the number of hikers to 20. I have been on too many hikes with more hikers than that. It gets real crazy and the group gets so scattered out. With many drops and adds in the last couple of days before the hike, we ended up with 20 and everyone showed up right on time. Thirteen of us met at Bell and I-17 before 7 AM. One carpool (with permission) drove straight to the trailhead rather than go to Bell/I-17, and three other people that live further north met us at the trailhead. We all arrived at the Huckaby Trailhead on Schnebly Hill Road between 8:45 and 9:00.

We took the group photo and headed east on the Munds Wagon Trail. I was told that Mr. Munds had a ranch in what is now Munds Park east of I-17. He drove his cattle down to Sedona for the winter along a route that was somewhat close to Schnebly Hill Road. Courtesy of Tom, the following link provides a lot more information. The Landscape of Sedona AZ.

A bike rider not watching would have a huge hangover if he did not keep his head down. Why anyone would ride a bike on that trail is beyond me. But it is a great place to hike (if you are not terrified of walking along the edge of a cliff). We did meet a few more mountain bikers and they were very courteous and stopped while we passed. There is no way for a hiker and biker to meet and both stay in motion.

We soon reached the saddle at the east end of Midgely Ridge. We found a neat area just below the actual saddle to sit mostly in the shade with a tremendous view to the north. We ate our snacks and moved on to reach the actual top of saddle and our first good views to the south. Following the white dots, they led us on a switchback route down the red rock face of that saddle. We came to a trail sign that marks the east end of the Hangover Trail. The sign clearly warns mountain bikers that the trail is a double black diamond and should only be attempted by very experienced bikers.

At this point we had hiked about 5 miles and were now on the Cow Pies Trail. Again we follow the white dots, because near the bottom of the solid red rocks the trail makes a sharp turn to the left (east) to enter the forest area along the dry creek. This trail is a half mile long and ends at the road with the Cow Pies trailhead and parking area on the south side of the road. We gathered there, counted noses and found the Munds Wagon Trail exiting the middle of the parking area to the south. It quickly curved to head more westerly, paralleling the road on the south side. Again the trail crossed the road. There is a trail marker on the other side of the road but you have to look for it. The trail continues gently downhill crisscrossing the dry creek. We reached the junction with the Hangover Trail and again reconvened and counted noses. Then the trailblazers did as they always do on the last leg, went as fast as they could back to the Huckaby Trailhead. Everyone arrived safely and not too far apart.

Twelve of us went to Javalina Cantina on SR 179 just south of Schnebly Hill Road. The restaurant is on the east side of the road up on a bench and hard to see from the road. I had called ahead, so they had a table set up for us and served us promptly. They handle a large crowd very well. They do have outdoor seating, but not for a large group.

All in all it was a very successful hike. I had asked everyone to try to stay together as much a possible and they complied very well. Thank you, Trailblazers, you made my job easy.

8.5 miles, 4:55 hours, 1400 foot elevation gain, low and high elevations 4441-5209 feet