canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2022-06-05 09:42 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2022-06-05 09:42 pm
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Climbing Bell Rock, part 2
Sedona Travelog #15
Oak Creek Village - Mon, 30 May 2022, 7pm
Climbing Bell Rock today was fun. The hordes of hikers down near the trailhead thinned out quickly as the trail got progressively harder. While there were dozens down near the parking lot, I saw maybe 6 or 7 total in the mountain's upper reaches.
The main reason for this isn't that the mountain is high. It's actually far from the highest mountain in the area. It's that the trail is tough. The trail all but disappears after the first third of the trek, and you're left following cairns on the bare rock. In the top third there aren't even cairns anymore.
The hike becomes like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game. You read the terrain and figure out the best way over it. In some places parts of the trail are obvious, like above, where previous hikers have stacked rocks in a small gulch.
Other times it really is a case of, "Hmm, there are at least 3 ways I could get up there...."
And what leaves most people behind isn't the guesswork, it's that all the options are hard. There were several places I had to stretch my arms and legs over the bare rock to scramble for purchase. Things that I, as an adult man with somewhat long limbs, could manage were not manageable for others. Hawk stayed below while I continued up.
I've mentioned before the irony of climbing a mountain. At the top, you don't see the mountain. You see everything else. Here's a view of Courthouse Rock and the Munds Mountain Wilderness off to the east.
Oak Creek Village - Mon, 30 May 2022, 7pm
Climbing Bell Rock today was fun. The hordes of hikers down near the trailhead thinned out quickly as the trail got progressively harder. While there were dozens down near the parking lot, I saw maybe 6 or 7 total in the mountain's upper reaches.
The main reason for this isn't that the mountain is high. It's actually far from the highest mountain in the area. It's that the trail is tough. The trail all but disappears after the first third of the trek, and you're left following cairns on the bare rock. In the top third there aren't even cairns anymore.
The hike becomes like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game. You read the terrain and figure out the best way over it. In some places parts of the trail are obvious, like above, where previous hikers have stacked rocks in a small gulch.
Other times it really is a case of, "Hmm, there are at least 3 ways I could get up there...."
And what leaves most people behind isn't the guesswork, it's that all the options are hard. There were several places I had to stretch my arms and legs over the bare rock to scramble for purchase. Things that I, as an adult man with somewhat long limbs, could manage were not manageable for others. Hawk stayed below while I continued up.
I've mentioned before the irony of climbing a mountain. At the top, you don't see the mountain. You see everything else. Here's a view of Courthouse Rock and the Munds Mountain Wilderness off to the east.