Our first hike of the trip was in Oak Creek Canyon starting from the Call of the Canyon day-use area. We pulled into the park at 8:50, paid the fee and found a place to park the car. Good thing we got here early as the parking is already getting a little crowded, but we all managed to find spots. There were 31 of us hiking this morning. This would be a hike-at-your-own-pace-and-turnaround-when-you-feel-like-it kind of morning. Most folks were not expecting to hike the trail all the way to the end. Lynn, Lisa and I had not discussed the options and just struck out on the trail. We’ll figure it out in real-time. Well, the group was probably all together for about 30 seconds after the hike started and then we scattered all along the trail. So this is a pretty easy hike. There is minimal elevation change, with the trail just sort of rolling along the banks of the creek. The literature says the trail is 3.2 miles to the end; I recorded our track as 7.2 miles but that was from the parking area and we went a little ways past the end of the maintained trail. The only difficulty, if you can call it that, were the water crossings. I think Alex said there were about a dozen, but they were all easily navigated without getting your shoes even damp (as long as you stayed on the stepping stones!). Shoot, the first section of the trail is basically a side walk from the parking area over to the official trailhead for West Fork. At the end of that section are the remains of the Mayhew Lodge which housed more than a few Hollywood stars when they were making movies in the area. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard reportedly stayed at the lodge. The lodge was built on the site of one of the early settler’s cabins at the confluence of Oak Creek and West Fork. However the lodge burned to the ground years ago and all that remains are foundations, a random wall or two, a fireplace and a couple dilapidated outbuildings. One of the still standing walls had a round window opening that makes for a good photo op Even though the herd was well strung out along the trail, I still saw most everyone at some point during the hike. As usual, I ended up near the back of the pack as I was checking out the views, looking at the details and trying to capture a few interesting images. I hiked along with several folks during the day. First a short stretch with Howie, then some time with Oscar, Gary and Alex, but I also found myself alone a couple of times which provided an opportunity to enjoy the serenity of the canyon. It was not long before a started seeing some of the herd coming back down the trail; Max and Paula were first, I think, then a little later Bethany, then much later the uber hikers who had already made it to the end of the trail. When I caught up with Lynn, we decided to hike to the end of the West Fork Trail. Alex pointed out several good photo op sites along the trail, many of which we decided to hit on the return hike. There were a lot of great views along the trail, particularly near the creek (and sometimes best viewed from in the creek). But the scenes along the trail are not those of the red rock formations that are so well known in the area. Yes the canyon walls are red rock, and there are peeks of the red rocks all along the trail, but for the most part this is a hike in the woods, mainly maples and oaks. There were just hints of fall colors starting to appear in the leaves. The creek crossings provided some of the best views, as there were wider openings in the trees to glimpse the canyon walls, plus the reflections of the rocks and trees in the water made for some nice images. Finally it was just Gary, Oscar, Lynn, Lisa and me as the last little part of the herd still heading up the canyon. There was a little bit of elevation change toward the end of the hike, first a bit of an uphill grade then a longer and steeper downhill back to the creek and the end of the trail. Just behind the end of trail marker is a beautiful little section of the canyon with tall, undercut walls and interesting reflections. This made a very nice spot for a snack and a team photo. It was well worth the effort to get to this spot. The return hike provided several additional interesting sightings. There were several stands of a jointed grass, sort of like a small bamboo. Next was a really cool looking butterfly at one of the creek crossings and at the end of the trail there was a multitude of little purple butterflies in the wildflowers near the old apple orchard (the butterfly at the creek was very cooperative when it came to getting its picture taken, the little butterflies, no so much). But the most interesting of the lot was when Oscar and I stopped to a shot of a backlit sandstone formation. I noticed something flash briefly above the ridge. I figured it was a bird, but then I saw additional flashes and steaks. Nope, that’s not a bird, a plane or Superman. We watched for several minutes and a couple other hikers stopped to check out the scene as well. It was tough to get a decent photo of what we were seeing, but in the end I think we both captured something. The best we could figure is that we were seeing spider webs that is strands of webbing floating in the breeze and catching the light. And there were scores of them up there. It was difficult to determine how high the webs actually were, but it appeared that they filled the space between the trees lining the creek and the sandstone ridgeline towering above us. That would be a lot of spider web (or whatever it was). Still it was sort of cool to see. One thing we did not see a lot of were critters along the trail. OK, this is a popular trail, so the animals are probably going to keep out of sight once the hikers get going. We spotted a couple Great Blue Herons flying over when we started this morning and there were a few other birds seen along the trail, the butterflies I mentioned earlier, and one little snake (maybe a slender snout garter snake). The odd thing was that we did not see a single lizard along the trail, and we always see lizards out sunning when in Sedona. We hit a couple of the photo op spots that Alex as had pointed out on the hike in. These were just off the trail and down in the creek. Oscar and I found a way across the creek (the water was low, so it was easy to cross) and tried to get some views of the undercut canyon walls. Now that it is midday the lighting is a bit harsh, but it is still a petty scene. We’ll see if the pictures come out. We were back at the trailhead about 2:00, so we obviously took our time along the trail. With the size of our group, there was a lot of stopping and chatting along the trail which made for a pleasant day but a slower pace. Hey, that’s alright, we’re out here to enjoy nature.

Hiking/Backpacking

The parking area is not that large, so get an early start.

Sedona, Arizona, Oak Creek Canyon, West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon, hiking

Arizona, United States

time : Oct 8, 2015 9:07 AM

duration : 4h 49m

distance : 7.3 mi

total_ascent : 1578 ft

highest_point : 5528 ft

avg_speed : N/A

user_id : OhioHick

user_firstname : Allen

user_lastname : Arrington

Our first hike of the trip was in Oak Creek Canyon starting from the Call of the Canyon day-use area. We pulled into the park at 8:50, paid the fee and found a place to park the car. Good thing we got here early as the parking is already getting a little crowded, but we all managed to find spots. There were 31 of us hiking this morning. This would be a hike-at-your-own-pace-and-turnaround-when-you-feel-like-it kind of morning. Most folks were not expecting to hike the trail all the way to the end. Lynn, Lisa and I had not discussed the options and just struck out on the trail. We’ll figure it out in real-time. Well, the group was probably all together for about 30 seconds after the hike started and then we scattered all along the trail. So this is a pretty easy hike. There is minimal elevation change, with the trail just sort of rolling along the banks of the creek. The literature says the trail is 3.2 miles to the end; I recorded our track as 7.2 miles but that was from the parking area and we went a little ways past the end of the maintained trail. The only difficulty, if you can call it that, were the water crossings. I think Alex said there were about a dozen, but they were all easily navigated without getting your shoes even damp (as long as you stayed on the stepping stones!). Shoot, the first section of the trail is basically a side walk from the parking area over to the official trailhead for West Fork. At the end of that section are the remains of the Mayhew Lodge which housed more than a few Hollywood stars when they were making movies in the area. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard reportedly stayed at the lodge. The lodge was built on the site of one of the early settler’s cabins at the confluence of Oak Creek and West Fork. However the lodge burned to the ground years ago and all that remains are foundations, a random wall or two, a fireplace and a couple dilapidated outbuildings. One of the still standing walls had a round window opening that makes for a good photo op Even though the herd was well strung out along the trail, I still saw most everyone at some point during the hike. As usual, I ended up near the back of the pack as I was checking out the views, looking at the details and trying to capture a few interesting images. I hiked along with several folks during the day. First a short stretch with Howie, then some time with Oscar, Gary and Alex, but I also found myself alone a couple of times which provided an opportunity to enjoy the serenity of the canyon. It was not long before a started seeing some of the herd coming back down the trail; Max and Paula were first, I think, then a little later Bethany, then much later the uber hikers who had already made it to the end of the trail. When I caught up with Lynn, we decided to hike to the end of the West Fork Trail. Alex pointed out several good photo op sites along the trail, many of which we decided to hit on the return hike. There were a lot of great views along the trail, particularly near the creek (and sometimes best viewed from in the creek). But the scenes along the trail are not those of the red rock formations that are so well known in the area. Yes the canyon walls are red rock, and there are peeks of the red rocks all along the trail, but for the most part this is a hike in the woods, mainly maples and oaks. There were just hints of fall colors starting to appear in the leaves. The creek crossings provided some of the best views, as there were wider openings in the trees to glimpse the canyon walls, plus the reflections of the rocks and trees in the water made for some nice images. Finally it was just Gary, Oscar, Lynn, Lisa and me as the last little part of the herd still heading up the canyon. There was a little bit of elevation change toward the end of the hike, first a bit of an uphill grade then a longer and steeper downhill back to the creek and the end of the trail. Just behind the end of trail marker is a beautiful little section of the canyon with tall, undercut walls and interesting reflections. This made a very nice spot for a snack and a team photo. It was well worth the effort to get to this spot. The return hike provided several additional interesting sightings. There were several stands of a jointed grass, sort of like a small bamboo. Next was a really cool looking butterfly at one of the creek crossings and at the end of the trail there was a multitude of little purple butterflies in the wildflowers near the old apple orchard (the butterfly at the creek was very cooperative when it came to getting its picture taken, the little butterflies, no so much). But the most interesting of the lot was when Oscar and I stopped to a shot of a backlit sandstone formation. I noticed something flash briefly above the ridge. I figured it was a bird, but then I saw additional flashes and steaks. Nope, that’s not a bird, a plane or Superman. We watched for several minutes and a couple other hikers stopped to check out the scene as well. It was tough to get a decent photo of what we were seeing, but in the end I think we both captured something. The best we could figure is that we were seeing spider webs that is strands of webbing floating in the breeze and catching the light. And there were scores of them up there. It was difficult to determine how high the webs actually were, but it appeared that they filled the space between the trees lining the creek and the sandstone ridgeline towering above us. That would be a lot of spider web (or whatever it was). Still it was sort of cool to see. One thing we did not see a lot of were critters along the trail. OK, this is a popular trail, so the animals are probably going to keep out of sight once the hikers get going. We spotted a couple Great Blue Herons flying over when we started this morning and there were a few other birds seen along the trail, the butterflies I mentioned earlier, and one little snake (maybe a slender snout garter snake). The odd thing was that we did not see a single lizard along the trail, and we always see lizards out sunning when in Sedona. We hit a couple of the photo op spots that Alex as had pointed out on the hike in. These were just off the trail and down in the creek. Oscar and I found a way across the creek (the water was low, so it was easy to cross) and tried to get some views of the undercut canyon walls. Now that it is midday the lighting is a bit harsh, but it is still a petty scene. We’ll see if the pictures come out. We were back at the trailhead about 2:00, so we obviously took our time along the trail. With the size of our group, there was a lot of stopping and chatting along the trail which made for a pleasant day but a slower pace. Hey, that’s alright, we’re out here to enjoy nature.