There was a club camping trip this weekend but, since I’d decided not to go, I scheduled this Sedona hike anyway. I’d hiked a stretch of it before and even though I’d done so by mistake, it seemed like a nice trail, and all the write-ups agreed. So why not?

The plan was to offer two distances: either 5.5 miles out and back on the Huckaby trail or 11 miles in a loop comprised from the Huckaby, Allens Bend, Casner Canyon, and Munds Wagon trails. The result was one sign-up for the short distance and five for the long.

The weather forecast called for rain, but most likely (30% chance) in the early morning and late afternoon. But we all had our raingear and we decided that even if it did rain, we could tough it out.

Mark, Lance, Dave F., Dave M., Jim

Lance was our short-distance hiker because he’d been out of commission a while and was still working his way back into shape. I warned him that he’d be returning to the trailhead alone, but also noted that it’s not a tough trail, that he’s an experienced hiker, that he’d be likely to see others hikers likely the way, and that’d he’d probably get a cell phone signal all the way. He was fine with that.

A cactus flower brightens our rainy day. [photo by Dave M.]

Al was supposed to meet us at the trailhead at 9:00 but was nowhere in sight. I called his cell phone and got voice mail, and the rest of us had already been waiting a while, and so after a few more minutes we headed out. That’s why Al’s not in the group photo.

Dave F., Mark, and Dave M. making progress.

Ten minutes into the hike, though, my phone rang and it was Al, calling from the trailhead. He said we should keep hiking and he’d catch up to us. Ten minutes seemed like a long time to make up, though, unless, I wryly commented, he was a trail runner.

So we waited and less than five minutes later Al ran into view. That’s right, in addition to being a hiker, he’s also a trail runner. Oops!

Approaching Oak Creek on the Huckaby Trail.

The Huckaby trail itself lived up to its billing. Scenic, of course (this was Sedona), and well-graded, and vertical enough to be be interesting.

Dave M. celebrates his progress along the red rock of Sedona.

The trail approaches the Midgley Bridge.

Along the way we felt a few drops but nothing you could really call a rain. Nobody bothered with their raingear.

An old water trough, most likely.  At least it looks old and seems made to hold water.

Dave F., Lance, Dave M., Mark, and Al pause near the bridge.

We did encounter a problem at Oak Creek, however. When you get to the crossing, you can either hop along the bounders or turn around and go back. And there’s really only one place with enough boulders to hop. And because of recent rains, the creek had too many boulders below water to make a crossing easy.

This is Oak Creek, which flows year round. No wonder pioneers settled here, and that ranchers passed through with their herds.

We looked around for other crossing spots but came up empty. We also waited around for someone else to either show us how it’s done or convince us otherwise, but no one appeared. Mark tried going across but turned back. There used to be a footbridge but it’d washed out some years past. So we all turned around and took the Huckaby trail back to the trailhead.

Mark checks out the crossing point on Oak Creek. The boulders on the far side were just too far apart. [photo by Dave M.]

Our intention was that after returning to the trail head, we’d get our distance by hiking 2.5 or 3 miles out on the Munds Wagon trail and then turn back. But as we were discussing that, the sky got darker, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped. I took a vote and everyone said they were 60% in favor or calling it a day.

And then, a minute after we’d made that decision, a downpour started. What more confirmation did we need? And so we all threw our stuff into the car and headed into town.

Jim, Mark, Al, and Dave F. returning to the trailhead, And no, we didn’t leave Dave M. and Lance behind. [photo by Dave M.]

At Mark’s suggestion our lunch spot was the Javelina Cantina in Sedona. They were still having their lunch rush but managed to seat us almost immediately. The service, the decor, and the food were all top notch. The prices were a little high but Sedona tends to be like that. It wasn’t raining constantly outside, but we did see some downpours. I’m not sure if that made us wise or wimps but either way, there you have it.

An umbrella seller in Sedona displayed this work of art. If it’s supposed to bring rain, it sure seems to work![photo by Dave M.]

After lunch we started driving back to Phoenix and then my phone rang. It was a women named Tara Golden, whom I’d never heard of. She said she was at the trailhead and had my pack!

With the rain threatening, we’d thrown our stuff into Dave’s car pretty quickly, and I was distracted recording my GPS readings and making sure I put my GPS away properly. Then with several things happening at once, I’d somehow left my pack leaning against the trail map kiosk!

Tara had been waiting for someone to pick her up at the trailhead, and she noticed my pack sitting there with no one else nearby. So she investigated, found my luggage tag, and called the number listed.

By then we’d driven at last half an hour from the trailhead, and Tara said she couldn’t stay with my pack that long because she’d been hired to photograph a wedding that afternoon. So we told her to hide it behind the restroom building where no one at the trailhead or passing by on a trail would see it. She agreed and hid it in a bush there, and when we got to the trailhead, there it was! Phew!

There are three morals to this episode.

1. Don’t leave your pack at the trailhead.
2. If you don’t have a luggage tag with your name and phone number on your pack, get one. That $2 luggage tag saved me at least $500 for the pack itself and all its contents.
3. If you ever need a tour guide or photographer (still or video) around Sedona, please consider:
       Tara Golden
       505-692-0644
   I guarantee you’ll be working with an honest, upright, talented, friendly, caring, and compassionate person, and a true hiker to boot!