| DISTANCE: | 7.4 Miles |
| TRAILS: | Bell Trail 13 (out and back), Weir Trail 85 (small detour to canyon stream) |
| LOCATION: | Rimrock, Arizona - Coconino National Forest |
| DATE: | November 16, 2019 |
| WATER: | 3 Liters |
How the Mighty Haven’t Fallen
Well, this was the first time in my life that I experienced this to this degree. I’m not a fan of heights. Actually, heights don’t bother me if I feel safe, if I don’t feel safe that’s another story entirely. This was a beautiful hike near Sedona, Arizona, though not nearly as crowded as Sedona can get.
As I started to ascend from the canyon floor, I passed a couple of areas of the trail that more or less tested my resolve to continue. I told myself, it can’t get any worse than this, which is based in no logic whatsoever. It did get worse. I ended up on a narrow section of trail with a sheer drop off to the stream and canyon floor below. I’d estimate it to be a hundred feet or more.
Once I got past that, I sat down, looked at the trail ahead of me and decided to turn back. I don’t think most people would have had a problem with this trail since in every single review of the trail I read, not one person mentioned it. My tact on the way back was simple: just look at the trail and don’t look down over the edge. Apparently, that worked since I am writing this.
I remember when Seth was a young lad Kris, Caleb, Seth and I had to drive back from Borrego Springs through Julian in some heavy fog. It bothered Seth enough that he bent down in the backseat and wouldn’t watch the road. When we finally got through the fog, Kris said, “We made it with our lives!” To which Seth replied, “But not with our dignity.”
Yeah, that’s about right.
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- This is the last photo I took until I returned to an area where I felt relatively safe again.
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- This was the first area where I thought, it can’t get any worse than this….I took this on the way back.
Wow, particularly gorgeous. Thanks for turning back so you could survive to send us these. I approve of your decision.
Beautiful! Usually heights don’t bother me during the day when I am awake, but I do have nightmares of being drawn by some mysterious force off of a barn roof or a silo roof etc.
You wouldn’t have gotten me on even the questionable areas, at all!
Beautiful pictures.
Very impressive. A lot less green and more of the “red” rock than around Prescott Valley. I love the rocks but not the trail. Would you have felt better if you had been hiking with someone?
Looking forward to seeing Seth soon 🙂
AJ
Hiking with someone would not have helped. I’ve been on lots of trails where it’s a long way down to the bottom, but you can see the slope even if it’s very steep. That doesn’t bother me. It was not being able to see a slope…just the edge of the trail straight down to the the bottom of the canyon that spooked me.