The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Hiking on the edge!

We left our boondocking spot 8 miles west of Sedona, and drove directly to the trailhead at Mund's Wagon Trail. I had seen the parking lot from Google maps satellite view, and it looked big enough to park Sherman for a few hours while we went on a hike.

We got there just after 10:00am, and had we been 10 minutes later, we wouldn't have got a spot. You'll find out further on in the story that our entire day would have turned out totally different had we not been able to park there.

So, we were very lucky!

GPS coordinates of the trailhead parking lot are 34.866065 -111.74864.

We had decided on the Hangover Trail, which is actually a double diamond "experts only" mountain biking trail. But, you can hike on these trails too.

Sherman, at the trail head.

Bye Sherman! See you in a few hours...

Yup...we're going up there!

First, we had to follow the Mund's Wagon Trail for one mile.

To where it connects with the Hangover Trail.

Look at that rock perched way up there.

We didn't see much in the way of wildlife, but this blue bird was pretty.

Everything looks like you're way out in the middle of nature. The only thing taking away from this is the nearly constant drone of an engine somewhere from either the tourist helicopter flights, airplanes, or 4 wheel drive vehicles on the dirt roads. But, I guess those folks are just enjoying the scenery their own way.

Stopping to enjoy the scenery.

Some parts of the trail are really sloped. Can't imagine riding a bicycle along here!

Ruth and Kevin.

We carry a small, inexpensive travel tripod with us that we sometimes use to take photos of ourselves. Here's the one we use...


Beautiful spot for a lunch break.

The night before, Ruth had made a quiche. She used corn tortillas for the crust, and it turned out perfectly! It was delicious and made for a great lunchtime meal on the trail!

Corn tortilla quiche for lunch!

Yep, this part was an uphill climb!

At the top of that climb, a girl on a mountain bike came along in the opposite direction. There is nothing to her left but a long steep drop.

"I have to go down there??"

But she made it. Here she was, only 7 minutes later. Yes, there are some sections where the mountain bikers need to walk their bikes!

We took a video from the top, just to show you the magnificent scenery. You can view it here...


More spectacular scenery.

Careful on this section...if you lost your footing, you'd slide straight off!

Wow.

Springtime in Arizona.

Another slippery spot. People ride bicycles here?

Can you see Kevin?

Yikes...I just realized how many photos I had in this post. That's enough! But we couldn't  help ourselves...what a beautiful hike. Pretty much have to give it a 9 out of 10!

We made it back to Sherman at exactly 3:00pm, so we were gone about 4 1/2 hours. Pretty slow going for a 5.5 mile (8.5 km) hike. But you had to move slowly in sections, plus we stopped to enjoy the scenery in quite a few places.

I figured I would check my email before we got on the road north towards Flagstaff.

Good thing I did!

There was a message from someone named Joe, and he had just come across our blog and had read our most recent post. Turns out that Joe lives here in Sedona, and he's a relatively new RV'er. He has his 30 ft motorhome parked on his lot, and has enough space for Sherman to park beside for a night. He invited us to come park up for the night!

So we gave him a quick phone call to accept, and he lives only a mile from where we were at the trailhead! So we were over there in less than 15 minutes.

We had a great evening talking about RVing and travel. Joe only retired 4 months ago, and he and his wife (she was out of town visiting her mother) want to spend more time exploring in their motorhome and he had a lot of questions about boondocking and solar panels and that sort of thing. 

Had we not got that parking spot at the trailhead, our entire day would have been different and we likely would never have got to take Joe up on his kind offer. Funny how random things are sometimes!

Joe and Linda's dog Elena. She's a beautiful black German Shepherd!

Didn't get a pic of Joe yet, but we'll make sure we do that before we leave this morning. What a great day we had yesterday! Thanks Joe!


28 comments:

  1. You have fans all over :) So nice of them to offer up the space for the night. Those colours in the mountains are so beautiful, I can see why so many like the area. You would have to pay me ALOT of money though to ride my bike on that trail - not going to happen.

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    1. I was really nice of Joe to offer us a spot for the night, so much better than having to make the drive to Flagstaff late in the day. Yes, the red rock is so colourful, and I think that is why Sedona is so popular.

      You, would have to be a total diehard mountain biker to even attempt this trail. I found it scary enough at times and we were hiking!

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  2. So nice that you got that email in time and your got to meet a new followers.
    Like you said the scenery is spectacular!

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    1. Yes, it is amazing how well things can turn out sometimes, especially when you least expect it.

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  3. Nice that you are able to use your America the Beautiful Pass in lieu of paying the $5/day fee Sedona charges for trailhead parking.

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    1. Yes, it was nice that we could use it. They don't make it really clear though, I guess they hope by making it a little confusing that you will purchase the pass anyways.

      Dugg, have you biked the Hangover Trail? If not, then maybe you should look into it., definitely a challenging trail for a bike!

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    2. No way! Hangover is way too gnarly for me. To see what it's like to fall from cyclist's point of view, check out https://youtu.be/gDbUaQDvnK0

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    3. I knew you were a smart man! Those guys are nuts if you ask us, it was hard enough hiking it in places let alone trying to do it on a bike.

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  4. Glad you enjoyed your Hangover Hike!

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  5. Loved your photos and video! Beautiful place!

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  6. I'm a Zonie but I have yet to hike the trails in and around Sedona....you've inspired me to do just that, thank you.

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    1. Hard to believe you haven't experienced the trails here Rita. Have fun on them when you do, you will be awed by the beauty.

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  7. One word....fabulous!

    We carry a very inexpensive tripod also. It is so easy to use. Many, many great shots using it.

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    1. Thanks Paul and Marsha!

      It is handy to have the tripod with us and when they are small and very portable it just makes it even easier to carry it around.

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  8. Quiche with corn tortillas - would have never have thought of that, but it sounds really delicious! Would love the recipe. Cheers - Ellen

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    1. I will post the recipe for it shortly. Using the corn tortillas sure makes it easier than having to make a crust.

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  9. Your header photo is outstanding. Oh, how I would have loved to do that hike with you! That's something I've never had a chance to do in Sedona (yet). I'm with Ellen, I'd love to get my hands on your recipe for the quiche w/corn tortillas. You'd be proud of me, Ruth! I made french toast the other day! Grace (in Tucson)

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    1. We wish that you and Steve could have joined us as well. BTW, Joe mentioned that Sedona is very dog friendly place and that dogs are welcome on pretty much all the trails in the area, so Gretchen would love it here.

      I will post the recipe for the quiche sometime in the next week or so. Your french toast is making my mouth water, it sounds delicious.

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  10. Great place to hike, but I would not want to ride my bike there!

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    1. As I mentioned in a comment above, there were a few spots where I was nervous just hiking the trail! We cannot for the life of us imagine taking a bike along it but we did see about 4 or 5 people actually riding their bikes along it. They must have nerves of steel!

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  11. What amazing photos. Mr Sft wondered why I kept saying 'wow' 'wow' 'wow' :)
    Thank you for sharing-that was an unforgettable walk.
    I love spontaneous plans-these often turn out to be the best. This is how Mr Sft and I met-a spontaneous phone call but that's another story....

    Sft x

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    1. Definitely beautiful country around this neck of the woods.

      Yes, we love being spontaneous and like you and Mr. Sft, Kevin and I have a very spontaneous first date. :-)

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  12. What a nice hike. Very pretty colors in the rock. I agree with you, I'd rather spend my time on the trails around Sedona than IN Sedona. What a nice offer to let you stay overnight.

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    1. It was a beautiful hike, except in a couple of spots when I was a little bit nervous but Kevin had no issue. Totally agree, so much more to see out here on the trails and so much quieter! Yes, it was a very nice offer especially when he didn't even know us and had only just seen our blog that day,. We meet so many amazing people!

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  13. Those photos were incredible. I can't imagine riding a bike on that trail, but obviously people do. I wonder how many accidents occur? We have some mountain biker friends. I think I'll share this post with them. How nice of Joe to offer you a place to park...and you got a doggy fix too!

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    1. Thanks Karen and Al! We couldn't imagine people riding their bikes along it either but we actually saw about a half dozen or so of them doing it. Not sure how many times they actually had to get off the bikes and walk them over certain sections, or maybe the really good ones don't even do that. Not sure how many accidents there are but Dugg posted a link above of one, here is the link
      http://youtu.be/gDbUaQDvnK0.

      Yes, it was a wonderful offer from Joe and it was nice to meet Elena too.

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