Sedona, AZ, Day 1 Part 2

Tuesday, April 14, 2015 continued

We drove out to a spot where we could take a hike that was supposed to have beautiful views.

We saw some magnificent views.  The red rock formations fascinate us.  The redness does not show as much in our pictures.  And of course the color is intensified by the position of the sun.

This picture and the one below were taken from the first high point we came to.  We are looking back into Sedona.

Tic zoomed in on this view.  The rock formation with the tip sticking up is called Chimney Rock.  (Obvious to the most casual observer) The larger formation shows a layer of the red rock with a layer of white rock on top of it.  There are a lot of formations that look like that.  The red is from iron and the white is limestone from when the earth was covered by ocean.  At least that is what the signs tell us.

If I remember correctly this is 2 formations.  The left side is called Steamship Rock.  The right side is actually slightly behind the Steamship and it is called Coffee Pot Rock.

We stopped and saw this rugged mountain.

On our hike we saw this sink hole the ranger told us about.  There are several in the area of Sedona.

This picture and the 2 below are more views from our hike. 

At the ranger station we were told about a 4x4 drive we could take called the Broken Arrow Trail that started in Sedona proper.  Only the Pink Jeep Tour Co had permission to travel the Broken Arrow Trail from the forest service as a private company.  Individuals could go as long as they had a state pass which we have.

At the end of our hike on the way to the parking lot we saw this Pink Jeep.  Tic took this picture to see how much clearance it had.  We were deciding whether nor not to drive the 4x4 trail.  We decided we would go for it.

The trail turned out to be a bit more challenging than we thought it would be.  Can you tell how we are at the bottom and about to head up?

At this point we did not realize we were headed for that rock formation.

Here we are just below the top.  Tic decided he better walk it to see where we where we would have to go next.

This is at the top of that rock (not tippy top) and where we are headed next.

Then we got to the "Dining Table" and still not sure what would happen next.

To our surprise, our next challenge was the "Devil's Staircase".  The picture on the left is looking down hill and the picture on the right is looking up hill.  We did not take these two photos.  I found them on the Internet, so I could show where we went.  Tic managed to get our jeep down the hill without any damage.  Considering we do not have a lift kit, off-road tires, and we have a longer wheelbase than the pink tour jeeps, I was pleased and thankful!

This was the end of the challenging part of the Broken Arrow trail.  It was late in the afternoon by the time we finished the whole trail so as we headed home we stopped at...

the Wild Hog in Cottonwood for dinner. 

It was so beautiful we decided to eat outside.  Great BBQ!