The Mountains of Arizona
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Scheurman Mountain • Doe Mountain There are myriads of hills, peaks and interesting rock formations available to hike in and around Sedona. I read somewhere that Sedona is known for its beauty. For today, I went kind of conservative, just a couple short hikes, given that it was still quite hot in the middle to the day, above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Date: September 9, 2018
• Elevation: 4,899 feet
• Prominence: 419 feet
• Distance: 2 miles
• Time: 1 hour
• Gain: 500 feet
• Conditions: Hot but pleasant
Scheurman Mountain does not have the red-rock grandeur that all the other hills and spires surrouding Sedona have. It's a gentle hill with long slopes and a couple cliff faces, located south of Alt-US-89 near Sedona Red Rock High School. I chose to hike this because it would be short and unlikely to have crowds.
I left our hotel room in Cottonwood about 9:30 a.m. and drove into Sedona, a 15-mile drive. I turned south onto the east entrance of Red Rocks Loop Road, which loops all the way around Scheurman and other hills before re-meeting the highway about a mile to the west. I turned into the third entrance of the high school, then immediately hung a left into the tiny trailhead parking area, room for about three vehicles. There was a van there already.
It was about 10 a.m. when I got my boots on and started walking. I followed a "better" looking trail, which was an old road and went away from the mountain. So I returned back, only gone for about 5 minutes. I then found the trail to the right of the signboard, a small sign pointing the way. I obviously missed it at first.
The initial segment parallels the high school fence, going west then north. Then the trail goes west again, now aiming for Scheurman Mountain's east slopes. The ground here was red and sandy, but soon, as the trail went upward, the ground turned more tan and black-brown, and rockier, with obvious volcanic rock everywhere, more like what we have down by Phoenix. In this section, the trailed gained steeply for a few hundred yards, with moderate forest of pinon and juniper, some providing shade.
Within minutes, I was on top the ridge. The official trail goes south to a vista point, but a scanter, but still well-trodden trail, goes north toward the actual highest point. To here I had gained about 400 feet in 0.6 mile (going by the signboard). The day was warming up, about 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but very dry and pleasant when a breeze would pick up.
I walked the scanter trail about 0.4 mile north, gaining about a hundred feet. The terrain was open and gently sloping, with a pleasant mix of pinon and juniper trees, sawgrass and other general grasses, agave and some small cactus. It was quite pretty.
The trail comes to a summit, but then drops and rises again to another summit, both about equal in height. Beyond this second summit, I found the benchmark, a non-traditional silver disk put in by the state rather than the United States Geological Service. The fact there was a disk here at all was better than I was expecting. It lies in rocks about 5 feet below the highest points, wherever they may be. I tagged and kicked about six different rocks at both summits to be sure.
I kept walking until I was near the north tip of the mountain, where I had stunning views of the full sweep of cliffs and peaks of the Red Rocks. I spent a few moments to admire the sights and snap photos. I had not seen anyone coming up, and had these views to myself for the time being.
Hiking down, I retraced my route, meeting an older couple as they were following the lower trail as part of a bigger loop. There are apparently many trails in this area, kind of a hidden gem, since most people will drive on by and go to the more colorful peaks closer to town. Thus, one benefit was to be essentially alone on a trail in Sedona, which is a rare thing.
I was gone for an hour. Back at my car, I changed into dry clothes and drove back into Cottonwood, following the Red Rocks Loop Road all the way around to the west intersection with the highway. Beth and I spent most of the day in, watching mindless television, reading Kindle stories and enjoying the air conditioning. Later today, as the sun was setting, I would return to town to hike Doe Mountain.
Being a Sunday, I expected some crowds of hikers here, but also, avoided the bigger crowds of the high school students of a weekday. I would probably avoid this hike on a school day, or park elsewhere.
Elevation: 5,067 feet
• Prominence: 421 feet
• Distance: 2 miles
• Time: 1 hour
• Gain: 440 feet
• Conditions: Hot but clear with a breeze
Earlier today, I had hiked Scheurman Mountain, then drove back to the hotel in Cottonwood to clean up and veg. As the day grew old, I wanted to go back and hike Doe Mountain, which was a primary goal for this trip. It's a lovely red-colored mesa located northwest of Sedona. The trail is short, but the views are amazing, so I had heard.
At 4:30, I drove back into Sedona, followed Dry Creek Road north through some homes, then followed Boynton Pass Road west, staying left at two more junctions, a total of about 6 or 7 miles from the main highway. I pulled into the Doe Mountain & Bear Mountain parking lot a little before 5 p.m.. There was a group gearing up for their hike, and about three other vehicles. I was concerned I'd find no parking but being late on a Sunday, I found a spot with no problem.
I put on my boots and went light, carrying a couple bottles of water in a bag, along with my hiking pole. I started hiking at 5:06 p.m., following the Doe Mountain Trail up. I passed the first group quickly as they were stopping for photos. The trail marches upward, aiming for a corner in the cliffs about 350 feet above. However, as the trail nears the lower cliff bands, it makes a long switchback to the right (west) in order to get through a couple weaknesses in the cliffs, then cuts back east, before wiggling up to the corner of the top-most cliffs. I was moving quickly, and made it here in about 20 minutes. However, I stopped often too for the views and a couple images.
Soon, I was on top of the flat mesa-top that is Doe Mountain. A spot elevation of 5,067 feet is in the center of this mesa and is the presumptive highest point. I angled right and hiked southwest through the trees and moderate scrub. I did not use a GPS and simply hiked until I started to drop again, then criss-crossed the general area. Somewhere, I was within a foot of the highpoint, and called it good, invoking my Rule of the Shin to claim the ascent. This took me about 15 minutes.
I hiked back to the main trail and followed it east to some overlooks, looking up Oak Creek Canyon, and over at such mesas and peaks as Mescal Mountain, Capitol Butte and the many spires sprinkled everywhere. With the late-afternoon light, it was particularly beautiful.
I hiked down the way I came, coming upon that first group again, then a family of five and a few more solos and couples on the trail. Back at the parking lot, more people were showing up. The day was warm, about 95 degrees, but with the low sun and light breeze, it was not uncomfortable. I was back to my car at 6:06 p.m., exactly one hour after starting.
It is no wonder why Doe Mountain is a classic hike in the Sedona area. It's short, plus with amazing views the whole way up and down. Even though I took it kind of quick, I enjoyed it very much. Across the road is Bear Mountain, which I hiked in 1995. However, I have no memories of the details of that hike other than we got pretty far in, and I ran out of water on the way down.
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