Mingus Mountain: First sight of snow

            I woke up this morning to what sounded like someone tapping on my window.  This would be pretty creepy considering I live on the second floor.  But I soon realized that it was a light rain.  So I got up and began my day.  Eventually I got a text from one of the cooks I work with.  He told me that Mingus Mountain just got some snowfall.  I remember how in San Diego when we would get rain in the winter it usually meant snow up in the nearby mountains.  So apparently Sedona is similar in that way.  So what did I do next?  I said thank you and sat at my computer… (yeah right!).  I immediately threw on a jacket and headed out.  I had to see it for myself. 

            Mingus Mountain is south-west of Sedona (where I live) and Cotttonwood (the town next door to me).  The 89A west takes you just about all the way there, until I got to the Forest 104 Route, which was a dirt road.  For as many Adventures as I go on I might need to get another vehicle, my Accord is barely cutting it. 

            I didn’t see any signs of snow for about 85% of the drive up so I began to get skeptical.  I thought maybe the cook was messing with me as he usually does.  Then I see it:

            

Well, the photo doesn’t really do it justice but what I saw was a section of the mountain where the trees had a light dusting of beautiful white power.  As I got closer and closer I saw more and more patches of snow on the side of the road.  At first it was mostly in the shadows and then it became pretty consistent throughout the forest floor.  I eventually turned off onto Forest 104 Route and powered my way up the dirt road.  When things leveled out I passed a small body of water to my right.  It looked like a nice place to stop but I wanted to see how far I could go.  Apparently not much further, everything after this point was either part of a church campground or U.S. government property.  So I turned around and parked at the body of water, which actually had a parking lot. 

Here are the signs I see:

            You’ll notice a few things: 1.  This was part of Prescott National Forest.  2. This body of water had no name that I could discern.  3. No Boating / Swimming.  4. At the bottom of the Self Service Pay Station sign it says that this site is currently not maintained.  Sweet!  The government shut down has saved me another $5!  We're up to $10 total. 

            I started walking around taking photos.  There really wasn’t much to do out here but I was happy I came out because it has been a while since I’ve seen snow. 

            Today’s Adventure wasn’t nearly as involved as yesterdays but I hope it was interesting non-the-less.  I certainly enjoyed it.  Keep on exploring!

Double feature: Doe Mt. Trail & Bear Mountain (Trail 54)

            Today is my day off and I started it off with no plans.  Usually I like to have a general idea of what my day offs will consist of so I don’t waste time, but I’ve been so busy I hadn’t given it too much thought.  So I decided to pack my backpack and hit the road.  I had an idea where there might be some trails but I was more-or-less just driving around looking for a spot that looked interesting.  I ended up parking at the Doe Mountain Trails head (for those of you who might want to know where that is take Dry Creek Rd of the 89A, it becomes Boynton Pass Rd then make a left at a fork to stay on it and make another left at a fork to continue on Boynton Pass). 

            When I walked up it looked very touristy and maintained.  (Skip this sentence Mom) Which is not a bad thing, but I want something that will put my life in danger.  You usually have “nice trails” at these kinds of places, where the trails are very obvious and aren’t very long.  That’s great if you’re hiking with grandma or grandpa (which I actually saw out there today, props to them both, what an inspiration), but for me that’s not going to cut it.  But I decided to go anyway because it didn’t look that lame and I’ve got nothing else to do (remember, no plans). 

            When I saw this sign it started to dampen my mood.  I understand that the fees go to maintain the trails but I have always resented paying to experience nature.  My thoughts are, “really? I have to pay $5 to hike up the side of a mountain that will take me 20 minutes”.  The whole paying to be in nature just really gets under my skin, it seems wrong to me.  So decide to pay like the upstanding citizen I am (hehehe), when I notice this:

            Thank you Government shutdown, you have officially saved me $5.  So it’s not all bad right? 

That’s the parking lot.

I of course had to go to the edge. 

            Feeling unsatisfied I completed my hike which took me about 20 minutes.  Then I notice across the street there is a dirt trail leading through a small field of grass and shrubs.  I decide to go over and take a look.  It turns out to be the start of a trail (trail 54 up Bear Mountain, to be specific). 

Here is what the signs say: 

            Five mile hike, elevation gain 2,000 feet, plan on minimum of 5 hour roundtrip, rugged, exposed, mostly unmarked trail, sounds like an Adventure to me!  I knew I had to do this either today or some time soon.  I started the trail, not entirely sure how far I was going go today but I had to know more about it.  About five minutes into the trail I pass a couple that I ask if they made it to the top.  They answered in the affirmative and said it took them about three hours round trip.  I thought to myself, “I’ll do it in two” (I didn’t). 

            So I started Bear Mountain excited at the prospect of having a challenging hike.  Then I began to think to myself, “I wonder why they call it Bear Mountain?  I hope the answer to that isn’t really obvious”.  But I had my Ka-Bar (a really big knife) and the spirit of Adventure so I wasn’t worried.  (WARNING: The Spirit of Adventure does not protect against bears) 

            I thought I would be hiking to the top of this:

I thought wrong.  The trail takes you left of this rock formation to another area that over looks the canyon that you just came from.  When I got to what I thought was the top I thought, “okay, that was nice but it only took me maybe 40 minutes, something must be wrong”.  So I ventured deeper into the mesa and saw this:

            “A higher peak!  I must hike it!”  This made more sense why the couple said three hours, so I continued.  Something that you need to realize about this trail if you ever hike it (hopefully with me), is that there are about three areas where it plateaus.  At the first area I thought I was at the top, but obviously I was not.  The next few you can see the final peak taunting you as you get closer and closer. 

            On my way up I eventually came across a very distinct area of tan smooth rock (I say tan because most of the rock is red).  Aside from getting to the top, this was my absolute favorite part of the hike (did you get that Jesse? Favorite part).  At some points I got on all fours to climb up this smooth rock.  

When I finally made it to the top of this part I ran into another couple whom where nice enough to take my picture in exchange for taking theirs.  Here it is: 

            There was just one more stretch until I got to the top.  The final stretch was pretty steep and at points the trail was not as obvious either.  If the trail makers (which were just little stacks of rocks) hadn’t been there it would have made the hike much more difficult.  So I powered through and finally after about two hours I made it to the peak.  The view was spectacular. 

            That couple took my picture again.

            I found some interesting things up there too.

            I ate a snack, had some water and realized my legs felt like jelly.  You see, the thing about hiking is that you have to go down the mountain too.  I decided it was okay for me to pop in my ear buds and listen to some tunes on the way down.  On the way up I wanted to appreciate nature, but getting down I just wanted to be done (I’m a little inpatient with certain things).  Hiking down is definitely faster but it is a real workout on your thighs.  I was feeling the burn for sure.  I’m not going to lie, I also got lost a few times.  It’s interesting how different the trail can look coming from the other direction.  But I finally made it and was feeling both accomplished and exhausted.  In total the hike was a little over three hours. 

I think after a day like that I’ll get some pizza and beer.  Until next time fellow Adventurers!