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.)
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.)