Igor at sunset near the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 11th.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Practice makes perfect...

Another gorgeous day yesterday. Yes, we have to put up with cooler nights, but with sunshine and daytime highs around 60F (15C) are perfect hiking weather up here at Prescott, Arizona. The desert was nice, but I'll take this anytime. I like trees and mountains and greenery.

We've been doing a decent hike nearly every second day lately, and now when we look at a trail that's 10 miles (16 kms) long, we don't even think twice.

That's the whole "practice makes perfect" thing. You do something often enough, your system just gets used to it. So when we saw a trail across the highway from the campground that was 5 miles (8 kms) one way, we packed up the day pack with snacks and water, and off we went.

Heading out on the Wolverton Mountain Trail at 10:45am.

Yes, the sign says it's a "circle trail", but that's for if you're mountain biking. It's far too long for a day hike! Besides, we did get a bit of a late start anyhow, but we wanted things to warm up a bit before we headed out.

We saw quite a few of these little woodpeckers out in the forest.

Heading up to that mountain.

We had a beautiful view of Humphreys Peak, Arizona's highest point at over 12,500 ft. Doesn't look like it's 90 miles (148 kms) away!

Looking down on Prescott, Arizona.

Still quite a bit of snow on the shady side of the mountain.

Great view of the valley, with Humphreys Peak in the background.

Somebody buried way up here?

Some kind of old tower. 

Heading back down.

Not often you see a hummingbird just sitting and relaxing.

We did the 5 mile (8 km) return trip non-stop. It was 2:45pm when we got back to Sherman, so we were gone four hours to do 10 miles (16 kms). Not bad. It was a fairly gradual climb from 5,700 ft to 6,600 ft...no really steep parts at all.

We're heading out again today...doing the "not recommended for motorhomes" route 89A through Jerome. But we've read where people in big rigs with towed vehicles have done it (although not happily) and Sherman is only 28 ft. Besides, Sherman is fearless and has lots of experience driving mountain roads!

A great deal on a good screen house tent for camping when you might need shade or to get away from the bugs...



9 comments:

  1. Thats a good hike, I have been doing 3 miles a day on the indoor track here in an hour, but very boring 36 laps. Still too cold and icy to be doing any outside walking.
    Jerome is quirky town, interesting, its a good road but very windy and steep, will be tight but am sure you can do it.

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    1. Sedona has some amazing sites to see too I am sure you will checkout too. And 89a from Sedona to Flagstaff is a tight one too.

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    2. Good for you George, soon you will out on some pretty trails. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before that ice and snow is gone!

      Yes, we enjoyed wandering around this town on the hill, it sure makes it more interesting than most of the towns because of that.

      We haven't really been in the town of Sedona before, just driven through it so that we could do a hike there and that is probably what we will do again. We have traveled the 89A before but in a car and after driving Sherman all around the Copper Canyon area in Mexico, I am sure we won't have a problem with this road. We actually love driving on mountain roads.

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  2. Don't forget to check out the Spirit Room/Bar in Jerome for live music. http://www.spiritroom.com/
    And... you can't beat the hikes in Sedona. We listed several on our blog from last year, including the one I mentioned to you before .... The Hangover trail, which was so good we did it twice, just reversed directions. Here is a different post for your reading pleasure! ;-) http://metamorphosisroad.blogspot.com/2014/04/out-and-about-in-verde-valley.html

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    1. Thanks Hans for the reminder. We did poke our noses in the Spirit Room but we didnt stay for a drink or anything to eat. Two guys were playing music and it looked like a neat old bar/saloon.

      We agree, I remember last time we were in Sedona that the map for hiking trails had tons of trails. We will try to do the Hangover Trail, it looks like a fun one to do, when we pass through Sedona. Thanks for the this other post on the another hike too.

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  3. If you in the Cottonwood on 3/14, Llory McDonald is playing at the Spirit Room from 2-6 pm. We saw her last year and she rocks. http://spiritroom.com/spirits/event/combo-deluxe-9/?instance_id=1072 Have fun! Hans

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    1. Nope we won't be around then but thanks anyways. :-)

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