Red rock under snow and sun

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Why are we traveling in the middle of January on a non-holiday weekend? It’s V’s milestone birthday! It was also the Lunar New Year. What an auspicious guy 😄 After much thought, we returned to Sedona to celebrate.

Thu: Hopping over to Arizona

Yay to off-season flying on a weekday 🙌 Everything went so unbelievably smoothly. One thing is, though, it pays to look up ahead of time what terminal we’ll need to be at. For this 2-hr flight, we went all out budget and took FrOOOOer for the first time. I was really really scared of all the reviews and kept our bag size a few inches below the limit. The good thing was that this made us travel uber-light and avoid the line because I made sure we didn’t have to interact with the staff at all. We did purchase the seats, though. The last thing I wanted was a seat bully to separate Y from us. Reading too much, perhaps.

Y was pretty entertained at the gate watching the activities on the tarmac. The boarding began promptly at 2:15 pm and the last-of-the-bus group’s turn came fairly quickly. It was maybe a little over half full and the boarding went fast. The plane took off right on time. The seats were ridiculously thin compared to what I've seen but I didn’t even feel it on a 2-hr flight. No recline, no screen, no problem. The plane was so ahead of schedule that we were still 15 minutes ahead when we got off the plane 🙌 The car rental was smooth too. My luck never lasts this long.

Everything looked close on the map but a quick Target pickup run took 30 minutes. By the time we got to V’s uncle’s, it was already 8 pm. It was great catching up. Y was so excited that he didn’t fall asleep in the car until the last 30min of the ride to Sedona at 10:30 pm local time. Good thing he had brushed his teeth before taking off because he was carried into the bed unbothered.

Fri: An epic hike to start the weekend

Rough morning. Who would’ve thought Y would get up before 6 am?! That is so little sleep! I finally got up at 6:30. It had snowed last night and the cars were covered in white. Of course, Y wanted to go outside. There was a thin snow layer on the ground. We also got the first view of the red rock surrounding the premise. Wow.

We took our time and left the hotel at 9 am. Destination: Soldier Pass. The road was slushy at times but it was still manageable on a non-AWD. It was a 30-minute journey from where we were and snow was so much more at the destination. The trailhead was smack in the middle of a fancy neighborhood. There was “The premier estate sale” going on and cars were oozing out on the street. We didn't know and grabbed the first open spot 0.2 miles from the trailhead which worked out in the end. Maybe due to the snow, the parking lot was closed.

Y was poised to walk! He was smoking us in the dust while V and I snapped pictures like crazy. We were rewarded with gorgeous views of red rock with snow-covered scenes all around. There were some stream crossings and snow flurrying small and large but Y walked on in that clunky unfitted rain boots. We reached Devil’s Kitchen which was about halfway. I remember this from the last trip, ha! Another half mile was our turnaround point at Seven Sacred Pools. Very cool and scenic. A perfect spot for a snack 🙂

Overall, we were blessed with the gorgeous views, the beautiful snow, and a poised toddler. 2 miles total with one break in rain boots. Kudos 🙌

After an epic hike, it was time to go grocery shopping! West Sedona was just around the corner and there is just about everything here. We returned to our lodging in Village of Oak Creek for lunch. Because of the late night yesterday, the plan was to chill, have an early dinner, and turn in super early. Y was fine until 3 pm when he asked to play in the real snow. The morning snow was long gone in Oak Creek and we’d had to drive at least 20 minutes north. Tough call but the forecast was sunny for the next two days. Ok! We kept going north until the snow looked sufficient and ended up at Marg’s Draw Trailhead. We started climbing in search of a good patch of snow where Y could play. Climb, climb, and boom, the view opened up! Amazing. Just can’t go wrong in Sedona!

Y was reaching his limits shortly after. Dinner, shower, and straight to bed.

Sat: A train to nowhere

Y struck again with a pre-6am wake-up call. Of course, he wanted to go outside. Finnne. Upon peeking outside, the rim of the skyline was slightly orangish blue. How about catching the red rock sunrise?? We quickly got ourselves ready and left at 6:50. The official sunrise was 7:30. We grabbed Bell Rock Trailhead nearby. There weren’t many views from the parking lot so we headed toward Bell Rock to get to the higher ground. It was lit enough to see but the sun was still behind the mountains. Heck, we were gonna do this hike today anyway. Let’s get this done now! The mountain across was starting to get lit. We took an epic banana break at the base of Bell Rock. . That’s when Y fell on the ice, ouch! We attempted to climb further. This time, V fell on a rock that didn’t even look icy. That’s when we called it. It’s one thing if I fell but another if V fell because he is not clumsy. No bueno. We descended. Just when we got back to the parking lot, the mountains were shining in intense orange. That was ~7:45 am. The sunrise starts when the sun pokes out of the mountain. Noted. We admired the view from there and were thankful no one was hurt.

Can’t complain about having coffee back at the hotel instead, though 😄 we kept low-key for the rest of the morning because we had a big plan for the afternoon: Verde Canyon Railroad. We had an early lunch and went back out at 11:30 am. It took 30 min to Clarkdale where we boarded the train.

I was surprised to see people oozing out everywhere at the station. It was a gorgeous day with a blue sky and a Saturday but the ride ain’t cheap. Maybe because it is a very infrequent season and you can cancel up to 24 hrs before departure. Who knows? The crowd was mixed with elderly groups and families. Upon checking out the train, an attendant kindly told us to go get paper tickets at the depot. It wasn’t clear because the sign for the café overwhelmed the existence of the depot 😅 The depot held the tickets with pre-assigned seats printed on them. We will be on Wickenburg car! Each car was named after a city in Arizona. Super cute. The first thing for Y was to see who was pulling the train: two eagle-painted diesel engines back-to-back 🙂 Around Wickenburg close to boarding time, the tall guide had already been gathering the crowd with his talk. We missed most of it then but we got so much more onboard.

At 12:45 pm on the button, the floodgate opened and there we went! The car was lined with lounge chairs with water bottles and packed food for each passenger. We found our seats on a four-seater couch. The three ladies next to us had 2-seater tables and one sharing with us. They really pack this thing. Also on each car were a full bar and a restroom. It’s a party train! There were also open-air cars for every two cars so everyone had access to it. In a short briefing, we were told that it was a train to nowhere. We’re going to a place where there is no road, trail, nada. No quitting. Gotta stay on and return on this train. After a toast with Champaign and off we went shortly after 1 pm.

I was way too psyched about the open-air car that I left V to eat with Y in the seat and headed for the brisk air where the guide guy was non-stop talking. Some dad jokes, and lots of history. Ask a question and you’ll get a 10-page response 😂 Super cool to have him point out things on the way for sure. He even later showed Y the rock that looks like a big bird exclusively. After a horseshoe bend of the river the train follows, things get really interesting. Halfway toward the end was a canyon surrounded by red rocks. Super scenic. As for Y? His favorite part was being in between the cars. The railroad snaked around a lot so the panel rotated around. The thing was that he had to be carried up to the rail to have a good view. At his height, his view was unfortunately through the mesh fence. At the turnaround, the engines switch and that was exciting although both ends were too far to see. The return trip was chill. The guide guy wasn’t talking anymore and only a few were outside. By then the canyon was already partially in the shade and it didn’t make a good photo subject anymore. Y was still excited to see the engines at every bend though. The bar lady started to go around with the bills and the train made the final bend at the horseshoe. It was a bit past 5 pm when we got off the train. As we were getting off, Y noticed the diesel engines. It wasn’t clear to me if they were going to switch right now but by the time we stepped out, we had to dash to the front to catch the engines. This had to be the highlight of the day for Y. He saw the trains connect right in front of his eyes! And the conductor even got a big railroad nail for him and another kid. So sweet!

Wow, a long day. At least we were well fed from the “appetizer”. Y was in his dream for the 30min drive back to Oak Creek. A quick bite, shower, and lights out. Y definitely had come down with something. The poor thing was coughing with a runny nose. We’ll play it by ear tomorrow.

Sun: Sunrise on the vortex

I was gonna wake up at 5:45 to make coffee so I can have it before the planned sunrise outing but Y beat me to it. Once up, though, he wasn’t showing too many cold symptoms. Phew, but we must visit the drugstore.

7 am on the button departure. Yay for snagging one of the last few spots at the coveted small and free parking lot at Airport Mesa. The backup option would’ve cost us a half-mile trek 😱 Today was frigid and windy. Perhaps the coldest on this trip. My gloves felt nonexistent for the first time. Y was brave to push through the climb to the outlook, then to the vortex. The vortex was difficult, especially in the clunky unfitted rain boots. It started with the steep stairs then it turned into climbing along the rock crevice. Installed handrail rope...nuff said. All water drips were ice which undoubtedly made it dangerous and challenging. If it weren’t for V carrying him through the rough patches, we wouldn’t have made it to the top. Crazy parents. But always equipped with food, lol. V fed him a banana as he tucked his hands in his pockets and said he’s an animal that eats without hands 😄 The sun was about to peek out of the mountain making the hills on the other side beautiful bright orange. Gorgeous! And just like that, the sun popped over the mountain.

Welp, the sun is up, it’s time to hit the drugstore. The next stop: Sedonuts for some red rock donuts. This will be the birthday cake 😄 We made it back to the hotel with an hour to spare before the checkout time. On the way to auntie’s house, we stopped by UPS to ship that giant nail. That iron spear for sure wouldn’t have made it through the airport. $20 was worth not having tears at the security.

On the drive toward Phoenix, I didn’t realize how much Seguaros were growing wild! I will be sure to check out a hiking opportunity next time. We spent time with our uncle and auntie on this sunny gorgeous day. At 4 pm, it was time to head over to the airport. It took 50 min plus pumping gas and a potty stop. The Sunday evening crowd was making me nervous but we made it to the gate on time. The flight was overbooked and a little more hectic but Y got to catch some snooze.

We really lucked out with the weather. Arizona was in a swamp a few days before we arrived. Not only did we escape that, but also got to see thick snow and sunshine! It’s gonna be a great year and many more great years for V! Happy Birthday <3

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Photos

Soldier Pass Trail
Creek crossing

Devil's Kitchen
Soldier Pass Trail

Seven Sacred Pools
Soldier Pass Trail

Soldier Pass Trail
More creek crossing

Checking out the engine
Verde Canyon Railroad