Sedona - Photograph America Newsletter

67
™
Updated - March 2012
Where, when, and how
to discover the best
photography in America
Published since 1989
Sedona
Many of my favorite desert landscapes are in Sedona,
Arizona. Deep canyons, ancient Indian ruins, natural
stone arches, hiking trails that lead to panoramic
vistas, and Oak Creek, a year-round stream that
cascades through a forest rivaling America’s best
autumn-color landscapes. Sedona’s seasons change
more dramatically than most other Southwestern
destinations. Sedona is a wonderful place to visit in
the winter when all the red rock spires and mesas
can be topped with a dusting of snow. The village of
Sedona is surrounded by red buttes, deep canyons,
and beautiful streams. Visitors only need to drive a
few miles to one of the hundreds of trailheads and
hike into the wilderness to experience the desert
solitude that also surrounds Sedona.
issue 67 - page 2
F
avorite times for photographers to
visit Sedona are in April, May, and
the first two weeks in June. From
the middle of June through the middle of
September, the average daily temperature
is frequently over 100˚ F. The autumn
color season is usually the last two weeks
of October.
Sedona’s official off-season, with lowest
motel rates and fewer tourists, is between
January 5 and March 15. The Christmas/
New Years week is one of the busiest times
of the year. To avoid the tourist season,
arrive in January or February–plenty of
rooms are available at the lowest rates,
most of the restaurants are open, and
you’ll have no problem finding a parking
spot out at the trailheads.
For this newsletter, I spent two weeks in
January and February exploring Sedona.
During my stay in Sedona, I saw sunny
days, cloudy days, a little rain, and a
little snow. The snow was melting when
I arrived in late January. It returned
to blanket Sedona for two days in early
February.
For a more relaxed experience, plan your
trip for the off-season. If your schedule
is flexible, watch the weather forecasts
and arrive during a snow storm. You’ll
get some different photographs and the
cold weather never lasts long. In a few
days, the roads and the trails will be dry
again.
The sun never rises very high in the sky on
a winter day. This helps prevent the flat
mid-day lighting of summer. Few things
improve desert photography like a blanket of fresh snow across a red rock formation. Flagstaff, at 7,000 feet, receives
plenty of snow each winter. Twenty-eight
miles south, Sedona, at 4,300 feet, receives much less.
Sedona is in a high desert location on the
southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, in
the center of the state of Arizona, a hundred miles south of the Grand Canyon,
and a hundred miles north of Phoenix.
The most convenient airport for most
visitors traveling to Sedona is Phoenix’s
Sky Harbor International Airport. From
Phoenix, the drive north to Sedona will
take you just over two hours on Interstate
17. You can fly into the smaller airport in
Flagstaff, called the Pullium Municipal
Airport, rent a car and drive twenty-eight
miles south to Sedona on scenic U.S.
Highway 89A.
Two main highways meet in Sedona:
U.S. Highway 89A and Arizona Highway
179. They intersect at “The Y,” between
“Uptown” and West Sedona. U.S. Highway 89A, the “Main Street” for both
“Uptown” and West Sedona, connects
the Sedona region with U.S. Highway 89
near Prescott, sixty-three miles to the
southwest, and Flagstaff, twenty-eight
miles north at the intersection of Interstate Highways 40 and 17. North-south
Interstate 17 connects Flagstaff and Phoenix. Arizona Highway 179 runs fourteen
miles between Interstate 17 and “The Y”
in Sedona.
All directions given in this newsletter are
measured from “The Y” in Sedona at the
junction of Highways 179 and 89A. The
original village of Sedona was established
just north of the junction. Highway 89A
heads through the village, winds up Oak
Creek Canyon, and climbs several thousand feet on its way to Flagstaff. South of
the junction, West Sedona is spreading
out along Highway 89A. From the junction, Hwy 179 travels east to Interstate
17, passing through Oak Creek Village,
7.2 miles south of “The Y.”
Several years ago, a policy was adopted
in Sedona requiring parking passes for all
non-commercial vehicles parked in the
Coconino National Forest. The parking
areas at the trailheads have signs posted
warning that vehicles parked without a
pass (hanging from the rear-view mirror)
may be cited. A pass is not needed to drive
through the National Forest or to stop
briefly to take a photograph. The pass is
required for a vehicle, not a person.
issue 67 - page 4
You can
photograph
Sedona
from the air
by taking a
sight-seeing
flight from the
Sedona Airport. You can
chose from
high-wing,
low-wing,
open-cockpit biplanes,
helicopters,
and hot-air
balloons.
Boynton Canyon
You can buy a Red Rock Parking Pass at Dry Creek Road is located 3.2 miles south
of “The Y” on U.S. Highway 89A. Drive
any of the four visitor centers:
west on Dry Creek Road, turn left at the
1 - Oak Creek Vista Overlook, at the top stop sign, then right on Boynton Canyon
of Oak Creek Canyon.
Road. Park in the lot on the right side of
2 - Sedona Chamber of Commerce office the road just before reaching the gate at
at the corner of Forest Road and the Enchantment Resort.
Highway 89A in Uptown Sedona.
3 - Visitor Center in the Village of Oak The trail leads west from the parking lot.
(Remember to hang your parking pass
Creek, south on Highway 179.
4 - Sedona Cultural Center on west side of from the rear-view mirror.) In a very
the intersection of U.S. Highway 89A short distance, you’ll pass a side trail
marked “Boynton Canyon Vista.” It’s a
and Upper Red Rock Loop Road.
Red Rock Parking Passes can be pur- short, steep climb to an overlook in the
chased, using cash or credit cards, from saddle of the two red rock spires threevending machines in some remote loca- hundred feet above the trail. Stay on the
main trail and continue west for one mile
tions at popular trailheads.
along the north slope of the canyon. The
A note on camera gear
trail winds through low trees and cactus
I make sure that my tripod always gets as it follows the edge of the resort, just
packed inside my suitcase. A solid camera above the fence. Twenty minutes from
support is necessary for low-light levels the trailhead, at the far end of the fence,
during sunrise and sunset photography, the trail dips down into the bottom of the
for shooting the interiors of Indian ruins, canyon and heads west.
and for deep and narrow slot canyons.
You are going to miss your extra-wide- Hikers pass through forests of pines and
angle lens or your 400mm telephoto junipers, then climb through manzanita
if you leave it home. Wrap it in a large and ponderosa. At every break in the
sheet of plastic bub- trees, I set up my tripod to photograph
ble wrap and carry the red rock formations atop steep canyon
it onto the plane in walls. As the trail climbs up the canyon
a shopping bag, if it winds back and forth across the creek.
necessary. If your The creek was dry in February. Hikers
filter collection is have difficulty when the water level is
too large to pack, high.
select the most important filters and Higher up the west end of the canyon,
screw one or two snow covered the trail. Three miles in,
onto the front of the canyon narrows dramatically and
each of the lenses the trail becomes steeper. As the trail
in your camera bag. I pack my flash unit became steeper, it was too icy to continue
into a pocket of my camera vest and wear so I concentrated on photographing the
winter scenes around me.
it on the plane.
At the parking lot, I packed up my gear
This is a great “cool-morning” hike on the and headed back down the road. At the
west side of Sedona. Photographers will first stop sign, the pavement continues
enjoy the glowing red canyon walls late left to Dry Creek Road and back to Sedoin the afternoon on a winter day when the na. Head straight and the pavement soon
ends. The sign says “Primitive Road.” On
sun is low on the horizon.
the map, it’s called Boynton Pass Road,
Boynton Canyon
issue 67 - page 5
and it gets rougher and rougher as it skirts
Bear Mountain. Like most unpaved roads
around Sedona, Boynton Pass Road becomes a quagmire of deep red mud after
a few days of rain.
Doe Mountain
In just over a mile on Boynton Pass Road,
I reached the parking area for the Doe
Mountain Trail. Doe Mountain is a freestanding mesa, one of the most southerly
mesas in the Sedona area and has some
wonderful panoramic views from the top.
The marked trailhead is across the road.
The trail starts to climb quickly, through
a forest of juniper. My trail map said that
the summit was 467 feet above the trailhead. It looked much higher. The trail has
a lot of switchbacks. Most of the trail is
not steep. It was laid out for a fairly easy
climb, even with all my gear, a tripod,
lunch, and water.
It took me less than thirty minutes to
reach the top. The last few feet of the trail
was a series of natural stone steps leading
up a narrow crack in the rim of the mesa.
The top of the mesa is not large, probably
a mile around.After exploring the whole
circumference of the rim, you have to be
able to find your way back to the only trail
down. Take note of the location of the top
of the trail before setting out to explore
the top.
The top is covered with broken slabs of
thin, red flagstone and dense groves of
junipers, mesquite, and many other small
desert plants. Agave, yucca, prickly pear,
beaver tail, and small pincushion cactus
were everywhere. Their blooming season
is from March through May.
Rough trails lead across the top of the
mesa to the eastern side for a view of
Sedona in the distance. An even rougher
trail winds around the rim. I found
weathered and twisted juniper stumps
surrounded by cactus and the sharp daggers of agave growing right on the edge.
The vertical drops along the eastern side
of the mesa are spectacular. If you are up
for a moderately strenuous climb, this is
a wonderful spot for photography.
Honanki and Palatki
The best Indian ruins in the Sedona area
are a few miles west of Doe Mountain on
the Boynton Pass Road. You’ll see signs
Palatki Ruins
at several forks in the road pointing the
way to Palatki Ruins. You should have
no trouble finding any of the trailheads
around Sedona if you use the free map
given to you when you purchase your Red
Rock Parking Pass.
Park in the lot below the Palatki Ruins and follow the trail
to the Visitor Center, a house
built by Charles Willard, who
homesteaded this property in
1924. He first built and lived
in a stone enclosure that he
built in an alcove in the canyon wall above the desert floor. He built
the house that is now the visitor center
and planted two-thousand fruit trees just
below the ruins. Called the “Red Canyon
Ranch,” this is now the name of the region
to the west of Sedona.
Pictographs are high on the wall above the
ruin that were probably done by artists on
ladders. I asked the volunteer caretaker,
on duty at the ruins: “Where‘s the best
place to set up a tripod for the best picture
issue 67 - page 6
of the ruins?” He asked me to follow him.
We both followed a narrow ledge along
the red sandstone canyon wall. He turned
and pointed back toward the ruin. It was
the best angle I could have hoped
for. It was mid-morning and the
angle of the sun was not right
for this scene. I judged that the
best light would strike the ruin,
and reveal the strong textures
across the rock walls, in the late
afternoon. After making a few
more exposures, I headed back,
past the visitor center, and climbed the
other easy trail, following a sign marked
“Rock Art.”
The trail leads up and into a deep alcove
called “The Grotto,” because of the pool
of water in the middle. Scattered across
warrior’s shield. In the alcove are human
forms, more bighorns, and the character
“kokopelli” playing a flute.
The Honanki Ruins are five miles farther
west, beyond the Palatki Ruins. The road
passes through the gates of the Hoffman
Ranch. Just keep going right through
the ranch. The unpaved road gets a little
rougher for the last few miles.
At the parking area, there’s a small shack
where a caretaker collects a fee from
visitors. The trail to the ruins is a couple
hundred feet. To the right of the end of the
trail are the remains of ancient walls. To
the left of the end of the trail is a larger,
multi-room structure. The best viewpoint
can be reached by climbing fifteen feet up
a pile of loose rocks. Before driving all the
way out to Honanki, inquire at one of the
Visitor Centers/Information offices in the
town of Sedona to be sure that the ruin is
accessible for photography.
Both of these ruins, Honanki and Palatki,
were built in shallow alcoves to protect
the occupants from rain and summer sun.
Both face the south. For the best light, arrive in the late afternoon when the sharp
angle of the sun will bring out the textures
of the hand-made stone walls.
When you have finished photographing Honanki and Palatki, return to the
junction of Boynton Pass Road and Red
The Crossing on Oak Creek
Canyon Road (Route #525) and continue
the wall are pictographs of heading south. This unpaved but graded
snakes, bighorn sheep, and road is the shortest route back to the pavedeer. Along the wall to the ment of U.S. Highway 89A. At the juncright are human forms, includ- tion, turn left and you’re four miles south
ing a small person wearing a of the Upper Red Rock Loop Road and the
head dress resembling those entrance to Red Rock Crossing.
still worn by women of the
Hopi tribes. A few hundred Red Rock Crossing
feet farther along the trail is You can reach the famous Red Rock
another wall covered with Crossing from either side of Oak Creek.
animal pictographs, includ- Although it’s called a “crossing,” there are
ing a stylized bear. At the end no bridges or fords across Oak Creek at
of the trail is an alcove where this point. The classic photographs you’ve
cooking fires had once blackened the can- seen of red stone buttes and yellow trees
yon wall. A large, round pattern on the reflecting in a stream cascading over rocks
wall resembles a stylized sun burst or a were taken here. This composition is seen
issue 67 - page 7
in most books about Sedona and on many
covers of Arizona Highway. The Red Rock
Crossing image “works” in all seasons and
is easiest to shoot when Oak Creek’s water
level is low.
Heading southwest from “The Y” on U.S.
Highway 89A, drive to the last stoplight
in Sedona. (It’s the next stoplight past the
Sedona Medical Center.) Turn left at the
sign marked Upper Red Rock Loop Road
and drive down the hill past the Sedona
High School. At the end of the pavement,
turn left at the Red Rock Crossing sign
and right at the next sign. This will take
you to the toll gate at the entrance of the
Crescent Moon Ranch Day-Use Area. This
is one of the few places where your Red
Rock Parking Pass will not get you in, and
you’ll have to pay an entry fee.
Drive out to the far end of the paved parking area and follow the sidewalk until it
becomes a dirt trail. Walk upstream. In a
hundred yards, you’ll come to a concrete
diversion gate on a narrow irrigation
ditch. The best place to set up your tripod is on the edge of Oak Creek. At this
spot, the creek spills over a low drop. In
late October, when the water level is low,
photographers can set up a tripod out near
the center of the stream bed. After the sun
has set, wait at least twenty minutes. An
afterglow oftens lights up the clouds in
the east casting wonderful reflections in
the stream.
Sunrises / sunsets
Arrive at least an hour before sunset to
pick your spot before others plant their
tripods first. For sunset times, check the
bulletin board at the ranger station.
Except for the Navajo Reservation, Arizona does not have Daylight Savings Time,
so clocks are never moved ahead or back
as in other states.
The Crossing
When the water level in Oak Creek is too
high, the low, wooden foot bridge is removed from its usual position. When you
arrive to find that the water level is too
high to walk across Oak Creek and there’s
no footbridge, and you want to shoot from
the far side of the stream, you must make
the long drive around.
Head back up to Highway 89A, drive back
to “The Y,” turn right on #179 and drive 7.2
miles to Oak Creek Village. Turn right at
the second stop light in Oak Creek Village
onto Verde Valley School Road. Drive all
the way out to the end of the road at The
Crossing on Oak Creek. A sign near the
Devil’s Bridge
end of the road points out the last parking area for hikers and announces that
there is no parking and no turnaround at
the end of the road. Continue to the end,
turn around in the wide area provided,
and check out the lay of the land. Oak
Creek is just beyond the guard rail and
the Crescent Moon Ranch Day-Use Area
is across the creek. Return to the parking
area, hang up your Red Rock Parking Pass
and walk back down to the creek.
After walking back down to the end of the
road, walk through the opening in the barrier and head upstream toward Cathedral
Rock. Follow the wide, flat exposed stone
along the river bank and walk to the far
end. There you’ll see a trail against the
low embankment to the right. Follow the
While you
can reach
almost all
of Sedona’s
trailheads
driving a
2-wheel
drive vehicle,
a 4x4 will
give you
more options
and you
won’t worry
about getting stuck in
deep mud.
issue 67 - page 8
trail for a hundred yards. It dives into
some deep cottonwoods and pines and
becomes narrow at a point where it skirts
the base of tall red cliffs. As soon as the
woods open and the cliffs shorten, watch
for a spot on the left side, the river side
of the trail, where you can cross the small
stream on dry stones. At this point, Oak
Creek is a hundred feet to the left, through
the large cottonwoods.
Devil’s Bridge
Arrive late in the day and you can still
photograph Cathedral Rocks from the
edge of the Upper Red Rock Loop Road.
There are several large, unpaved places
where you can park along this road for a
good view of the red spires down in the
valley–the cover photo was taken from
here.
For three-hundred yards, the trail continues to climb up toward the rim away from
the stream. There are several places where
hikers can scramble up narrow crevices to
reach the top of the bridge. I followed the
trail to the base of Devil’s Bridge. It is one
of the most dramatic in the Sedona area.
At 3.2 miles southwest of “The Y” on
Highway 89A, turn right on Dry Creek
and drive 1.9 miles west. Turn right onto
an unpaved road marked #152. This road
can be driven with most two-wheel-drive
vehicles as far as the parking area at the
trailhead to Devil’s Bridge, 1.3 miles from
the pavement. Along the way, you’ll see
some great views of the Red Rock/Secret
Mountain Wilderness to the west. When
Follow the most heavily traveled trails you reach a sign warning about the roughtoward the creek. You should come out er road ahead, you will see the trailhead
at a point directly across from the most parking area.
photographed spot on
This hike starts on
Oak Creek, the clasa level trail leading
sic shot of Cathedral
through a forest of
Rock reflecting in the
junipers up a wide canwide stream. If you
yon for a half-mile to
arrive in the winter,
a point where the trail
when water levels are
turns to the right and
too high to wade out
starts to climb toward
for the perfect tripod
red cliffs. The trail folspot, you’ll want to be
lows a stream which it
on the south side of
crosses several times.
the creek. If you arrive
You’ll climb some flat
at this spot by driving
natural stone stair
through the Crescent
steps in the middle
Moon Picnic Area at
of the stream–not a
Red Rock Crossing,
trail you’ll want to hike
the large, overhanging
right after a rain. After
cottonwoods can obclimbing up through
scure your view of the
a forest of tall, light
red stone formations
green junipers, you
of Cathedral Rock.
will come to a spot
After you find the best
where you will see the
spot and get the perWilson Canyon Trail wide red stone edge of
fect composition, don’t
a waterfall. In the midbe in a rush to pack up
dle
of
February,
I
saw
sheets of ice coating
your gear. As the setting sun drops over
the
spillway
and
long
icicles
hanging from
the horizon, it lights up the tops of the red
spires and illuminates the pools in Oak the edge. I left the trail and climbed closer
to photograph the details.
Creek with a blood-red glow.
issue 67 - page 9
A 24mm wide-angle lens framing a vertical
composition captured the whole bridge,
the trail beneath, and some clusters of
green agave against the red stone. Bounce
light illuminated the rim of the opening. A
red filter darkened the clear blue sky and
lightened the red stone, compressing the
tonal range of the scene.
Sterling Canyon with a gradual climb of
three-hundred feet in a mile-and-a-half
through a shady forest. When the trail
breaks out of the trees, you’ll be near the
end of a box canyon on a sandstone ledge.
Look north, and you’ll see Vultee Arch
spanning the dry creek bed. The trail continues directly to the arch. You can walk
across this arch. I arrived here too early
The trail guide lists this as an easy hike in the morning and had to wait until the
at 1.0 miles and an elevation gain of 400 sun rose higher over the ridge to the east.
feet to the top of the bridge. You’ll find Mid-morning light is best here. In the
the best angle for a photograph from the late afternoon, flat, direct sunlight strikes
base of the bridge. There is no need to Vultee Arch. My favorite photograph
climb all the way up to the
was made from several
rim. After shooting from
hundred feet away with
the right side, I made my
an overhanging branch
way across the slopes to
framing the top of the
a spot on the left side of
arch.
the base and backed off
a bit to show more of
Watch for the brass plaque
the surroundings. All the
fastened to the face of a
cactus and agave around
rock ledge below the arch.
the base of the opening
It explains the origin of
improved the composithe name of this arch.
tions. I did this hike on
Oak Creek Canyon
a cool morning, carrying
Dropping from springs
all my camera gear and
beneath the Mogollon
tripod, in just under two
Rim fourteen miles north
hours.
of Sedona, Oak Creek, a
year-round stream, casThere are four natural
cades down a deep, red
bridges in the Sedona
rock canyon lined with
area. The Devil’s Bridge
a forest of cottonwoods,
is probably the easiest to
Along Boynton Pass Road maples, oaks, and sycareach. It’s well worth the
drive out the rough dirt road. To photo- mores. There are wild stretches of white
graph another natural stone arch, con- water and long, flat pools that reflect some
tinue driving northward on the same road, of the most beautiful autumn color in
(#152) for 3.1 miles. The road gets rougher the Southwest. Oak Creek Canyon is one
beyond the Devil’s Bridge Trailhead, and the best reasons to schedule your photo
should be no problem if you are driving a exploration of Sedona during the end of
vehicle with high clearance. Steer around October.
the deep potholes and the ruts filled with
mud and avoid straddling the larger rocks Drive through Uptown Sedona for a-mileand-a-half north of “The Y” to the Midgley
that can take out your oil pan.
Bridge over Wilson Canyon. You can’t
The Vultee Arch parking area is a large miss the large, steel cantilever bridge over
loop at the far end of #152, three miles the canyon on the left side of Oak Creek.
beyond the Devil’s Bridge Trailhead. The Park on the left side of the road, just berusty metal trailhead marker is at the end yond the bridge. This parking area is the
of the loop. This trail leads eastward up trailhead for three different hikes.
issue 67 - page 10
On a cold and cloudy morning in February, I followed the Wilson Canyon Trail
a mile-and-a-half up the canyon. Just
a short distance from the parking lot,
the trail crosses a narrow stream. The
dry stream bed was flat and smooth
red sandstone. A trickle of water was
flowing, enough to fill the potholes and
depressions in the stone. I searched for
reflections of the ridge above me. Green
junipers, red rock spires, and blue sky
were reflecting in the pools.
The trail climbs slowly along the stream,
switching from side to side and some-
Camel Head from the Airport Overlook
times winding right up the middle of the
stream. This is a spectacular trail after a
rain or late in the spring when the snows
are melting high on the Mogollon Rim
and filling the streams north of Sedona.
During wet seasons, hikers need hightop
rubber waterproof boots or old sneakers
to manage the many stream crossings
along the Wilson Canyon trail.
The Wilson Canyon Trail ends several
hundred feet above the trailhead, in a
vertical-walled amphitheater on the south
side of Wilson Mountain. Half-way up
the canyon is a marked side trail heading
south. The Jim Thompson Trail climbs
four-hundred feet to a spectacular scenic
view on the base of Steamboat Rock. It’s
a three-mile trail that ends at the Jordan
Trailhead on the north side of Uptown
Sedona.
The Huckaby Trail starts at the edge of
the same parking lot next to the Midgley
Bridge. Walk down the slope in front of
the cars and follow the trail as it drops beneath the bridge. In late October, when the
canyon is filled with autumn color, you’ll
find a good tripod spot just beneath the
bridge with a view looking downstream.
The trail turns north and continues along
the canyon wall down a gradually-sloping
incline. Stay on the main trail, avoid the
steep shortcuts, and you’ll reach the bottom of the canyon in about ten minutes.
A thicket of young saplings is growing
along the creek in the wide flood plain
of the canyon floor. The trail splits and
heads in both directions, up-stream and
down-stream. Large and small boulders
make walking along the canyon bottom
difficult. Arrive here in the fall, around
the third week of October, to find beautiful reflections of all the cottonwoods and
scrub oak in the wide, still ponds below
the Midgley Bridge.
Drive a short distance up Highway 89A,
just beyond the Midgley Bridge, where a
turn to the right takes you down a side
road to the Grasshopper Picnic Area on
the edge of the creek.
I’ve made several week-long trips to Sedona in October to photograph the autumn
color. Around the middle of October, the
color can start to peak in the area below
the switchbacks along U.S. Highway 89A,
13 miles north of Sedona. You can get an
overview of the upper canyon from Oak
Creek Vista, where you can turn around
and head back down toward Sedona.
There are wide spots at several of the
hairpin turns along the road where you
can stop for photographs.
West Fork Trail
Ten miles north of “The Y” on U.S. Highway 89A is a large parking area called “Call
of the Canyon Picnic Area.” An extra fee is
charged to park here at the trailhead for
the West Fork Trail, a very popular hike
during the summer and the fall.
issue 67 - page 11
Water levels are high during the spring.
Snow can cover the trail in the winter.
Arrive in the middle of the afternoon, pick
a good spot, and wait until the sun drops
over Wilson Mountain. When the stream
After crossing Oak Creek, you’ll see the is in shadow and the last few moments
remains of an old hunting and fishing of sunlight are illuminating the canyon
lodge, called the Mayhew Lodge, built in wall on the other side of the creek, all the
the early 1900s. In a short distance, the red colors will reflect on the surface of
canyon narrows, and the trail veers west the water. You can capture the red sandand follows the West Fork stream. The stone colors, the blue sky, and the yellow,
trail crosses back and forth across the orange, and red foliage painted on the
stream, which flows throughout the sum- ripples in the creek.
mer. In most spots, you can hop across on
dry rocks. Wear old tennis shoes or jungle
boots and expect to get your feet wet on
this hike.
The canyon becomes narrow and dark
in places. The stream has undercut the
canyon walls creating deep alcoves. There
are distance markers every half-mile along
the West Fork Canyon. The hiking is fairly
easy for the first three miles up the canyon. Plan to stop at the three-mile marker.
That’s where the canyon gets narrower
and the hiking turns to rock scrambling.
The canyon is twelve miles long and 1,300
feet deep in the deepest spot. Autumn color in the West Fork Canyon usually starts
to appear around the middle of October.
This photo exploration can be either a
short walk or a long and strenuous trek
into the wilderness–the Red Rock/Secret
Mountain Wilderness Area.
Jerome, Arizona
By the end of October, the mouth of Oak
Creek Canyon, where the town of Sedona
is located, is painted in all the brightest
yellows across the cottonwood trees. Visit
Tlaquepaque, just south of “The Y,” where
rustic adobe courtyards are shaded by old,
yellow cottonwoods.
Winter in Sedona
One morning in the middle of the week, I
A week after it first appears near the awoke to find snow covering Sedona. The
summit, up near the Oak Creek Canyon Sedona Airport covers the top of a long,
Overlook, the best color is found in the flat-topped mesa, just south of Uptown
middle of the canyon around Slide Rock Sedona. The only road to the top is acState Park, Manzanita, or Encinoso. Since cessed a mile south of “The Y” off U.S.
the color changes daily, photographers Highway 89A. Halfway up the steep inlooking for the best spots along the creek cline is a parking area and several trails.
should drive up Highway 89A, taking The trail to the left leads to the top of a
notes on the best locations, then turn red rock knoll that has an unobstructed
around in a safe place, and return to these view northward, looking up the Oak Creek
spots. Look for the wider shoulders along Canyon. The view stretches from the Red
the road, especially on the creek side of Canyon area in the southwest to Bell Rock
near Oak Creek Village in the southeast.
the pavement.
Look for the narrow stretch of creek where
the red rock canyon walls reflect in the
stream in the late afternoon. The scrub
oak in the canyon turns red in the autumn.
The cactus and agave were under a blanket of snow and made great foregrounds
for the distant formations. Low clouds
were rolling through the canyons.
The sun briefly broke through the clouds to illuminate
Capitol Butte, Ship Rock, and Twin Buttes. A graduated gray filter darkened the sky while I exposed for
the details in the snow. I worked on close-ups of
the cactus covered with snow and twisted trunks of
weathered juniper.
The road down from the airport was slick and icy. I
drove slowly in low gear with no sliding. At the bottom, I turned north and made a right at “The Y” onto
U.S. Highway 179. A half-mile down the hill, just
past the bridge over Oak Creek, I made a left turn
onto Schnebly Hill Road and drove a mile to the end
of the pavement and parked. The large, paved lot is
surrounded by buttes and ragged peaks. It’s a beautiful spot when the weather is clear but very dramatic
when the clouds roll in and snow covers the landscape. Schnebly Hill Road, unpaved and very rough,
continues to Interstate 17, ten miles east. I left my
car in the lot and walked a half-mile east along the
muddy road. I was shooting almost everything I saw
on both sides of the road.
Sedona lodgings
There is a great variety of lodgings and restaurants
in the Sedona area. On some past trips to Sedona, I
stayed in Flagstaff and made day-trips south to photograph the Sedona area.
If you arrive in Sedona to find all the lodgings completely filled, try Cottonwood, Arizona, located twenty
minutes south on U.S. Highway 89A. The room rates
in Cottonwood are lower than in Sedona.
There are small bed-and-breakfast establishments
and a few motels located along Oak Creek in the
canyon and a good selection of deluxe resorts hidden
away in remote canyons. Most of the large lodging
chains are represented in Sedona.
My life-long career in photography began at San Jose
State University in 1957. After college, I enlisted in the
U.S. Army Signal Corps, serving as a photographer and
darkroom technician. In Germany, my skills and experience with equipment and lab work were developed
and polished. I took the opportunity to photograph
the beauty of nature in the Black Forest. Returning to
California in 1965, I produced industrial and military
training films for Raytheon Electronics and began
showing my color nature prints. From 1969 through
1981, my photography was exhibited and sold in West
Coast galleries. During the early 1980’s, I taught color
darkroom workshops, then expanded to include field
trips. Former customers, who had purchased my
framed photographs, wanted to learn photography.
My Pacific Image Photography Workshops offered
adventures to the Pacific Coast, the Southwest deserts,
national parks, Hawaii, New England, Canada, England, and the South Pacific. The workshops evolved
into writing and sharing my adventures with others.
Photograph America Newsletter provides information
on where, when, and how to discover the best nature
photography in North America.
Photograph America Newsletter
is published quarterly (four issues/year)
by Robert Hitchman
assisted by technical associate/wife, Katherine
Post Office Box 86, Novato, CA 94948-0086
1-415-898-9677
www.photographamerica.com
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copyright © 1989-2016 Robert Hitchman
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