That is Sedona.

Bubba Suess wrote:That is Sedona.

Okay, I'm getting a little confused by the term "Sedona." Obviously, there's a town called Sedona, which I think I understand. And the red rock area around that town seems to be referred to as Sedona. So, is "Sedona" within the Coconino National Forest? Or is there some other entity that manages the public areas where hiking and outdoor recreation is available? State Parks, City Parks, Private, etc?

Sedona can refer to the region, town and the red rocks that surround the town. Most of the trails are going to be within Coconino National Forest. A lot of the routes will be in the Red Rocks-Secret Mountain, Sycamore Canyon and Munds Mountain Wilderness Areas, which are managed by Coconino NF.

Thanks a lot, Bubba Suess. Looks like Coconino NF has a pretty informative website, too.

Shifting gears a little, is it realistic to expect to drive a car to the trailhead for this peak http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock ... peaks.html ? I hope this isn't where DayHiker took the photo he posted. Lone Pine Saddle TH.

The pics from page one are taken from the new Red Rocks Sedona USFS visitor center on AZ Highway 179 just south of the V.O.C., or Village of Oak Creek. Bell Rock is the small bell shaped formation in the center of one of the pics, and Courthouse Butte is on the right of Bell. There is a Wendy's just up the road. I have had their Spicy Chicken, and it was good.

The HikeArizona.com hike difficulty ratings are a subjective rating system used by the author to indicate a level of hiking difficulty. Some peoples 3 is another's 2, and yet another's 5, so read the description and look at the elevation gain and mileage to make your own determination. It has no relationship to the Yosemite Decimal System or any other system. Do not confuse it for the hike rating given to it by the hikers, that is just a preference rating that lets other people know how good they thought the hike was. With more ratings a consensus can build to give people a good idea of what is generally thought of the hike.

Andinistaloco wrote:And your second pic is of UN5258 - sometimes called "The Transept" - probably due to its proximity to Cathedral Rock. It's a fairly straightforward scramble.

Is that the one between Bell and Courthouse in pic one? Class 3?

Here's a picture of Sedona to give you an idea of the town and the surrounding red sandstone.

jspeigl wrote:Here's a picture of Sedona to give you an idea of the town and the surrounding red sandstone.

Capitol Butte!

How about Monument Valley? I'm planning a similar short trip in Arizona / Utah, and Monument Valley was on my shortlist, but nobody has suggested it so far (or maybe not by that name?)

To add a note, it starts to get warm about Phoenix/Tucson as far as April, so then you'd probably wish to climb or hike in the morning. Unless you go up high. Flagstaff/Sedona may be nice or a bit cool, you'd best check the forecast. The South Rim is mostly fine all summer at about 7,000 feet. I suppose there can be nicer days, I go there in midwinter, but we've hiked a high peak when it was 100 degrees down in Needles. Humphreys is the HP of AZ, and it might be good for some snow climbing then.

The hikearizona.com ratings seem to be mostly difficulty based on strenuousness of hike (length, elevation etc.) and aren't indicative of technical nature. Some hikes I know that are rated 4 or 5 in "difficulty" are long and hard, but Class 1 all the way on paths easy to follow.

Arizona is a big state. I don't think you can easily plan a short trip from a relatively unorganized site like hikearizona. This is a time when you could use a real paper guidebook that has seen the touch of an editor, like the Hiking Arizona book, or pick an area and get a book for that location. It doesn't have to be the perfect book, just one that names a few good outings in your desired place. Have fun.