We know we’re on the right track now.
[photo by Debbie]

Woo-Hoo! Back in the Saddle Again, as that famous cowboy crooner, Gene Autry, would famously sing. All of us old enough to remember that song are now officially old-timers in the Arizona Trailblazers. Those of you who never heard the song before are just young whippersnappers, still a bit wet behind the ears as they used to say. Sorry, no offense intended to either generation here. It’s just good to be back out on the trails, hiking and exploring once again with the Arizona Trailblazers. We’re not out of the woods quite yet, but we’re slowly getting there little by little.

After a slight blip in driving directions, we all finally arrive at the small trailhead parking area on the south side of Verde Valley School Road in the Village of Oak Creek. Under clear and sunny skies, with a cool and comfortable temperature of 66 degrees, we hit the Transept Trailhead across the road on the north side of Verde Valley School Road and start hiking at 7:45 AM.

The hike description indicates 500 feet of elevation gain for this hike, and we start working on that right out of the starting gate. In fact, most of the 500 feet comes in the first mile or so of hiking.

Not to be confused with the more popular Transept Trail on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which runs from the North Rim Campground out to Bright Angel Point below the Grand Canyon Lodge, the Sedona area Transept Trail nevertheless shares a common trait with its northern cousin, since both are edge-hugging trails offering spectacular views, but with a cautionary note. Meaning that both trails can be equally treacherous in places, with sheer drop-offs and thus not suitable or recommended for small children or careless adults for that matter.

One careless move or slight misstep along the worse stretches of either of these two Transept trails could send you on a quick one-way trip to the bottom. In a hurry at one point to catch up with the other hikers in the group, in an instant my left foot started sliding out from under me along a particularly bad stretch of trail with loose gravel that was right on the edge of a deep drop-off. Thankfully I caught myself just in time, shifting my weight and digging in my right hiking pole to avoid a potential disaster.

That was just a bit too close for comfort. Most of the trail is not really that bad, but you need to be extra cautious and diligent along the sheer drop-off sections of edge-hugging trail. Being careless here is just asking for both trouble and disaster.

Opened to the public for the first time in 2018, the Transept Trail was recently described by Mare Czinar in one of her weekly hiking columns in The Arizona Republic: “…the north-south running ridge line known as the Seven Warriors is home to a pair of trails known for their edge-hugging exposure. The Transept Trail is one of those two trails that traverses the less congested western side of the Seven Warriors ridge line.”

Today marks the very first time the Arizona Trailblazers are experiencing this new trail in Red Rock Country. Our goal for today is to hike the Transept Trail for 3.2 miles to its junction with the longer Hiline Trail, take a rest and snack break somewhere along the way, then reverse course back to the trailhead.

The first mile or two of this trail is a mix of gradual and then more aggressive climbing, but a steady and almost relentless ascent through typical Red Rock Country of Sedona, with a mix of shade and sunny exposures, through Arizona cypress, shaggy juniper, Manzinita, and Arizona madrone. This trail also features dozens and dozens of ancient skeletal remains of some of the most gnarled and twisted tree trunks imaginable, primarily juniper and cypress, that we’ve ever seen before on almost any other trail in the Sedona area. The arid weather here can probably preserve these ancient specimens for decades, if not centuries. Some of these trees, like the one in the last picture set, were very likely young saplings well before the Civil War began.

Despite talking about it at some point on the trail, we all miss seeing the iconic Mayan Maiden rock formation that Mare discussed in her article since we didn’t know exactly what to look for. We also didn’t realize it was only 0.2 miles from the trailhead. Next time we’ll know better.

As we get higher in elevation a light cooling breeze begins to kick in and help cool us all down.

About 2.5 miles from the trailhead Michael finds a nice shady area with plenty of large boulders and rock shelves for seating, and we stop here for a well-deserved rest break. We try our best throughout the hike to maintain the recommended six-foot social distancing, but as seen in this picture it doesn’t always quite work out that way.

After a relaxing rest and snack break in the cool shade, including rehydrating, it’s tempting to hang around for a while longer. But the longer we sit around and vegetate, the tougher it is to get moving again and get those muscles firing.

The trail continues ascending in a series of long switchbacks and occasionally descending down a long track before finally leveling off once again. Although rated as easy to moderate, the Transept Trail has a surprising number of elevation changes along the way, but nothing too strenuous in the way of a steep and aggressive climb.

After one last switchback we finally reach the junction with the Hiline Trail and our turnaround point around 10:15 AM. The cool breeze that started earlier in the day gets stronger as we get closer to the junction and feels great as we take a final break standing at the high point on the trail.

We take one last group picture here for the record, take a few more pictures of the surrounding area, and then head back down the Transept Trail. Thankfully, the breeze stays with us for most of the way back to the trailhead.

A kaleidoscope of colors highlights this section of trail. [photo by Lin]

The normal procedure at this point is to discuss where to stop for lunch before the drive back home. Being this close to Sedona, we would probably stop at one of our favorite Sedona area restaurants and watering holes, like the Hideaway or the Javelina Cantina, but unfortunately these are not normal times right now with all the restaurants across Arizona closed to inside dining. So we take a short break in the parking area, bid one another goodbye, and head back down the long and winding road toward home.

As seen in this last picture by Lin, north of Black Canyon City we see a towering column of thick smoke billowing high into the air, more than likely a brush fire caused by a careless motorist tossing a cigarette butt out the window into dry grass along the road side. As we get closer, I imagine we’re all thinking the same thing—hoping the fire will be on the northbound side instead of on our side. And, thankfully, that turns out to be the case. With multiple pieces of fire-fighting equipment along the roadside, northbound traffic grinds to a complete halt and is backed up for mile after mile, as we sail along on the southbound lanes. Had the fire started earlier in the morning, all of us would be sitting in that long line of traffic. Some days you just get lucky.