Today Denise was up early looking for javelina. Javelina are like possums – likely to be around garbage, but you’re never going to find them if you are looking for them. Catherine poked her head out a few minutes later, discovered there were no javelina, didn’t see many chirping birds and promptly went back to her room to look at the bunnies from a climate controlled environment. Denise came back a while later having seen some duplicate birds and her fingers had become icicles.
We headed out for Bell Rock and Cathedral Buttes – still in Sedona. Our bird watching efforts were rewarded. We saw Pinyon Jays, Western Bluebirds, Juncos (Oregon phase), a Ruby Crowned Kinglet, flocks of White Crowned Sparrows and a Crissal Thrasher (distinctive curved beak). Denise looked the part (sadly, you can’t see the camera dangling from her wrist). That’s Bell Rock in the background.
After a short hike we found Bell’s Rock. Either there was a Mr. Bell or whoever named this formation had a vivid (or chemically assisted) imagination.
The hike is about a 4 mile loop around Bell’s Rock and Courthouse Rock, but what made it spectacular are the views back towards Sedona. First Cathedral Rock (which we saw yesterday) made an appearance.
Then we stayed in the shade of the rock formations wandering through a forest of old junipers, bristle cone pines (we think), hollys, manzanita and a tree with leaves that look like thin green straws or reeds.
In the shadows, the ground was frozen solid and there was a thin film of frost. Catherine double coated and Denise had her hood up. As soon as we rounded the corner, we were both in t-shirts and sweating through the desert. Denise liked Courthouse Butte and Catherine liked watching her wander through the scrub.
After another parking lot lunch (somehow Catherine suspects there will be more where those came from), we tried shopping downtown Sedona. Overpriced and not spectacular. We left about 20 minutes later and headed to West Fork which is a tributary of Oak Creek. The goal is to hike up to three miles up the canyon, crossing the creek frequently. When we got to the creek, we discovered.
Catherine successfully crossed.
She crossed back at a different spot, but fell on the trail between them, thus destroying any hope of convincing Denise she probably wouldn’t fall in. Back to the car for us. Denise wants to hike it again in the spring – Catherine agrees the canyon looks gorgeous, but doubts Denise is going to enjoy that snow melt when she dips her feet in.
We headed north up 89A to I 17 then got on I 40 for about 3 miles (Catherine noted last time she was on that road, she was driving her little car home and could be there in about 2.5 days). In Flagstaff we got back onto 89 and headed up through Navajo Country. We didn’t turn towards the Grand Canyon, but instead watched the landscape vary from grasslands with big bushes to grasslands with no bushes to no grass. Denise doesn’t like no grass – she wants her vegetation and has decided that the US just decided the Navajo lands weren’t worth fighting for. What made the drive neat is the pink and red cliffs that changed color as the sun set and the moon rose. There was a gorgeous pink, orange and lavender sunset as we found our hotel – Lee’s Ferry Lodge in Marble Canyon. We attempted pictures, but our low-light photography skills really aren’t up to par.
The hotel is awesome! Pictures tomorrow. There are no buildings in either direction for miles. Maggie, the owner, is super friendly. Even though the bar and restaurant were closed, 2 groups of folks were eating (the ribs smelled divine) and she was acting as cook, waitress, cashier and concierge. She called the condor biologists who live on site and found out where they are hanging out tomorrow (and hopefully where the birds are). The rooms have a rustic-chic southwest feel. Our patio overlooks a huge grassland and the red cliffs. While you might have trouble with summer reservations if you tried to get them today, we may share the place with one other guest. Maybe condors tomorrow!
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