As the winter snows cover all of our trails, we shorten our hikes, we put on cross country skis or snowshoes, and we plan ahead for our spring hikes.   We have also chosen to travel in the shoulder season to locations where good hiking can be found in later February through late March.   On Spring Break we traveled to Sedona in Arizona for late winter-early spring hiking.   We bought a book called 100 Hiking Trails around Sedona and as we read, we found that all 100 trailheads were within 30 minutes of driving.   We were eager to explore the area.

The elevation in Phoenix is only 1200 feet, but gets higher as you travel north.   Flagstaff is at 6900 feet, really too high for good hiking in March.   Sedona sits at 4500 feet with the desert hills to the south and the Mogollan Plateau to the north.   Surrounding Sedona are red rock sandstone rocks, monuments, cliffs, pinnacles, arches, canyons, and mesas.   The saying in Arizona, is that “God made the Grand Canyon, but he lives in Sedona.”   We can see why.   Every day, we found memorable hikes.   A few of the best hikes in the Sedona area will be featured on Kamloops Trails this month.

The average temperature in March ranges from 34 degrees F to 64 degrees F.   We found the south end to be warm and dry and the north end canyons wetter.   It snowed in Oak Canyon one day,  making creek crossings difficult.   Anywhere with a south facing aspect (most of the hikes) was dry and arid.   We hiked two of the mountains, climbing about 2500 each time and needed to bring a shell for the wind.    We wore hiking boots and found them the best choice for the rocky hikes.   Exploring off trail means watching for cactus and all sorts of thorny shrubs.

Many of these hikes would be too hot in the summer, but mid-March through May is a perfect time for hiking.   We will return to the Red Rock.