Hiking Fay Canyon in Sedona

Sedona Travelog #4
Sedona, AZ - Sat, 28 May 2022, 1pm

Woohoo! After 3 blogs about our Sedona trip we're actually in Sedona! ...Or we were, for several minutes. I don't know if we are now. We're out at Fay Canyon, several miles out from the center of town.



Hiking at Fay Canyon was originally not our first choice. Our first choice was Devil's Bridge, rated the #1 hike in the area on AllTrails.com, but it turned out to be a hike I think we did years ago. And it was hella crowded. There was no parking left at the trailhead. Cars parked up and down both sides of the road nearby numbered about 10x the spaces at the trailhead. Yeah, the problem with hiking the #1 trail is everyone is there, making it the #1 trail. The #1 most overcrowded trail! Super-busy trails have got to be amazing to be worth hiking. Like, Yosemite Falls is super-busy, but the 2,500 foot waterfall you're hiking next to keeps you from thinking about the human escalator above and below you.

So, we landed at Fay Canyon, a few miles further out from town. We passed by another stupid-crowded trailhead on the drive out here before arriving at Fay Canyon, where there were only about 25 cars parked. We wouldn't get solitude on the trail, but at least we wouldn't have people banging into us constantly.



One of the selling points of Fay Canyon, if I were selling canyon hikes, is that it's pretty easy. The trail is only 1 mile in each direction and it's mostly flat. And despite the hike being easy, it quickly plumbs into an area that is a) wilderness and b) beautiful. Nature often makes you work a lot harder to enjoy its beauty.



As we walked farther into the canyon its steep, red rock walls closed in around us. Soon even the back wall of the canyon rose above us. The choices were up, or back out. A sign nailed to a tree even informed us it was the end of the trail. Guess what we did.... That's right, when the trail ends, the real fun starts! (Follow link to keep reading)

When the Trail Ends, the Fun Begins! (Fay Canyon, part 2)

Sedona Travelog #5
Sedona, AZ - Sat, 28 May 2022, 2pm

I split up my blog about hiking Fay Canyon into two parts. That's partly because there are so many pictures I want to share and partly because the hike itself had two parts. In part 1, we hiked the trail to its end through a beautiful canyon. Then the trail ended. Technically.



The trail ended just shy of a dry creek crossing. A wooden "END OF TRAIL" sign was nailed to a tree. Beyond the creek was a fascinating red rock cliff. Its lower reaches were clearly climbable. ...In fact, not even climbable but scramble-able. You see, I define "climbing" as using ropes, clamps, and other technical gear to scale or descend a surface. When all you're using is hands and feet, that's scrambling. If you're not using your hands, it's walking. 😂

With that, we walked across the dry creek bed and started scrambling— but still mostly walking— up the cliff.



Climbing Walking up these slanted surfaces can seem scary to the uninitiated. It's actually easier than it looks. Although the surface is called slickrock, it's actually pretty grippy. That means if you have good tread on your boots, or even sturdy sneakers, your feet will stick to the rocks even on steep inclines. ...Unless there's sand or loose rubble on the rock; then watch out!



As we climbed up around the redrock bluff we saw a whole new dimension to Fay Canyon. This is the upper canyon beyond us.



And, of course, the view back out over where we've come from is picturesque, too.