Casner Mountain Trail

We set out on 19 January 2013 to hike the Mountain. Having already hiked Mooney Trail to the top of Casner three times, I was anxious to try the Casner Mountain Trail. Ron Grafe who has not hiked with the Skyliners for awhile had already contacted me to say he would join us; then looking up after preparing the sign-in sheet, I saw a vehicle sporting the familiar Bice Electric sign (right) and knew that Gordon Bice, recently too busy to hike much, was also with us today.

The day was bright and sunny and we set out for the trailhead in good spirits. We drove north on Hwy 89A to the Sedona Waste Treatment Facility and turned left onto FR 525, turned left onto FR 525C (Sycamore Pass Road) about 2.8 miles from Hwy 89A, continued on past the well-traveled FR 761 (Bill Gray Road) turnoff and arrived at the trailhead just across Coffee Creek after traveling 7.2 miles on FR 525C. The Forest Roads, both 525 and 525C had recently been graded and were in very good condition.

The start of the trail is marked by one of those sturdy, almost indestructible old rusty trailhead signs (see left) that are seen on area trails of a certain vintage. Only a small parking area is provided, just large enough for a single vehicle, perhaps two with care. However, additional parking is available alongside the road.

The trail leads past the sign down to the bank of Coffee Creek (usually dry) and connects with a very faint old road that leads across a side wash and continues, at a rather steep incline at first, along the slope on the other side until it reaches the service road for the Sycamore Substation power line after about eight-tenths of a mile and an elevation gain of some 550 feet.

The Casner Mountain Trail was apparently built by the Casner family to drive cattle from the Verde Valley to the Mogollon rim for summer grazing. It was later used to build and maintain the power line. It is still used as a service road for the power line, but is normally closed to public travel by motorized vehicles. I think the section of trail we followed from Coffee Creek up to join the service road (about 300 yards beyond the gate barring motorized vehicles) must have been a part of the original cattle trail.

After joining the service road, the trail runs straight up the mountain for about eight-tenths of a mile, at first rising at a gentle slope, but becoming ever steeper, rising another 600 feet or more.

Looking up the trail to Casner Mountain ahead

The trail then starts a series of switchbacks, a total of nine by my count, to rise an additional 700 feet or more in the next nine-tenths of a mile.

At the beginning of the switchbacks we paused to take a group photograph (below) and to look down on the Robbers Roost formation.

Left to right: Becky Fowsky, David Beach, Ron Grafe, Gordon Bice, Kwi 

Johnson, Daisy Williams, George Everman, Jim Manning, Dolly Yapp, 

the author and Miriam Sterling – photograph by the twelfth hiker using 

the author's camera

The photograph here (see right) shows Robbers Roost. The much photographed Robbers Roost cave is located on the opposite side, just below the rim at the top of the formation.

After a short rest we gathered our packs and resumed our trek along the switchbacks toward the top of the mountain. The total elevation gain would be about 2200 feet and we had done a bit less than half of that.

As we climbed higher we could look back down the mountain and trace our path, following closely along the power line, up the lower slope to the start of the switchbacks. Lifting our gaze a bit we could see down Verde Valley to the mist-shrouded White Hills beyond Camp Verde. The bright morning sunlight filtering through the mist served to give the whole scene an almost surreal look.

Looking back the way we had come from the switchbacks on Casner 

Mountain Trail

At the sharp turn of the ninth switchback we came to what I thought was the best viewpoint of the entire hike. We could look out across Sycamore Pass and on across Black Mountain to the Black Hills.

Looking across Sycamore Gap to Black Mountain. On the horizon are 

Woodchute (center) and Mingus (left). To the right Granite Mountain is 

dimly visible in the distance above a slice of Sycamore Canyon 

(to the right of Black Mountain)

Shifting our focus a bit to the west we had a clear view down Sycamore Canyon as it would its way toward the Verde River Canyon.

Looking down into Sycamore Canyon from the Casner Mountain Trail

We still had almost another mile to go and something over 600 feet to climb to reach the top, so we didn't linger very long at this viewpoint.

We came out at the top of the mountain in a sort of saddle with a small, rocky rise to the left and another to the right. The trail ahead had a thin, patchy layer of fast-melting snow. I had started with the notion of hiking on along the top of the mountain to connect with the top of Mooney trail some 3 to 4 miles ahead; however, that now looked a muddy, miserable prospect, and we decided to climb to the summit for lunch and then turn back.

But which of the small uprisings was the actual summit. The one to the right appeared higher, so we went there for lunch. A later look with Google Earth indicated that we had chosen incorrectly, the other rise was shown as higher by about ten feet at 6810 feet. However, the one we settled on for lunch gave me a GPS reading of 6840 feet. Of course a reading on my instrument taken at the top of the other rise might also have also been higher than shown on Google Earth.

Right spot or not we had great views all around for lunch, we could see the snowy path ahead that we had chosen not to take, a view that only validated our decision to turn back here.

Trail running north with the power line across the top of Casner Mountain

Looking to the northeast from our perch, we also had a clear view of the San Francisco Peaks.

The San Francisco Peaks seen from Casner Mountain Summit

Ron Grafe told us of a ceramic figure he had seen, mounted on a rock outcropping overlooking Verde Valley, about a tenth of a mile above the switchbacks and 70 yards from the trail. He had checked on the way up and found that it had been destroyed, probably by high winds, possibly by vandals. The parts of the figure were still scattered about and, intrigued by his description, several of us stopped to reassemble it on the way back (left). Ron and George called it “Nightmare.”

The hike back down went fast and we were back at our cars about five and one-half hours after starting the hike.

The total hike distance shown on my GPS was 5.8 miles round trip, the maximum elevation was 6840 feet and the total ascent was 2583 feet. The GPS track is shown on the included map (below).

Woods Canyon Trail

It was a cold day with a 30% chance of snow and only 5 hikers turned out for a 12 January 2013 hike on Woods Canyon Trail. We all met at the Cottonwood Safeway parking lot, drove north on Hwy 89A, turned right on Cornville road (CR 30), drove through Cornville and turned left on Beaverhead Flat Road (CR 78), turned left on Hwy 179 and drove 1.7 miles to the Red Rock Ranger District Center. Just after turning onto the road to the complex, we came to a sign at a bend in the road telling us that the Visitors Center was further along around the bend. We instead turned right onto a side road that runs below and parallel to the road to the visitors center. Immediately after turning, a driveway led downhill to some sort of service building. We passed that by and turned instead at the next driveway which led into the parking lot for an office building. We parked at the extreme southwest corner of the lot and found that Woods Canyon Trail (above, right) started immediately in front of our car.

The trail which leads down into and across a wetland area, is well-marked along this section with signs posted every few yards. This area also contains two stream crossings with stepping stones. Mindful of the below-freezing temperature, we used extreme care to avoid getting our feet wet. On the other side of the exclosure, about 0.2 miles from the trailhead, we came to a pedestrian gate (above, left) designed to exclude motorized traffic. Looking back as we passed through the gate, we saw a sign identifying the area as Jacks Canyon Exclosure for Riparian and Wildlife Habitat (below). The exclosure had not been identified as such at the point where we entered.

Sign at entry to Jack' Canyon Exclosure

About two miles ahead we would intersect with the Hot Loop Trail and the Forest Service, anticipating that hikers might be heading for that trail, took great pains to point out that Hot Loop Trail is not in fact a loop (see photograph at left). However, in conjunction with Jacks Canyon trail and a short connector between that trail and Hot Loop, it does in fact form a loop.

At this point we were in the wide mouth of Woods Canyon at its conjunction with Jacks Canyon. Looking to the north we had a clear view past the Village of Oak Creek to the red rock formations beyond. In the below photograph you can see the top of Cathedral Rock (left), Bell Rock (right of center) and Courthouse Butte.

Looking north from the Woods Canyon conjunction with Jacks Canyon

The trail followed along the remains of an old wagon road and although we had seen only one trail sign since leaving the Jacks Canyon Exclosure, the path was clear and easy to follow. About 1.1 miles from the trailhead we came to a sign-in box (right). Despite all markings having recently been removed from the box and the sign below it, the meaning was clear and we found an up-to-date sheet inside.

After signing in we continued on our way, coming soon to a full-size wire gate across the old road that the trail still followed.

Second gate on Woods Canyon Trail, 2.1 miles from the trailhead

Some 60 yards beyond the gate we came to the junction with Hot Loop Trail. At this junction, Woods Canyon Trail continued straight up the canyon while Hot Loop turned left and headed through a pass before making its way up Horse Mesa which lies between Woods Canyon and Jacks Canyon. A sign making this clear was posted at the trail junction and just a few yards along the trail towards Horse Mesa the Hot Loop Trailhead sign was visible.

Directional sign

Hot Loop Trailhead sign

We had, meanwhile, climbed higher and had emerged out of the shadow of the canyon wall into warm sunlight. Until this point we had been hiking steadily and, for us at least, at a fairly rapid pace in order to stay warm. The sun now provided some welcome added warmth and we decided to pause for a group photograph.

Left to right: Bob Wakefield, Dolly Yapp, Jim Manning and Daisy Williams

Having left the old wagon road at the Hot Loop junction, our trail, still well-tended and easy to follow, proceeded along the north wall of Woods Canyon and entered into the Munds Wilderness area (sign at left) about 160 yards ahead.

The trail rose and fell, but never so steeply as to become very difficult, as it wound its way along the canyon wall. In the photograph below two hikers can be seen at climbing one of the steepest sections while the ever-present, ghostly-white sycamores cover the rocky bed of the canyon floor to the right.

Hikers climbing a short steep section of trail in Woods Canyon

Around 3.2 miles from the trailhead we reached the mouth of Rattlesnake Canyon. From this point, should one wish to go that way, it would be about 2.6 miles up that canyon to the gaging station where we plan to descend on a hike planned for next month; it would be five miles if one were to follow it all the way to I-17 near the Stoneman Lake Road intersection.

At the confluence of the two canyons, water rushing into Woods Canyon from Rattlesnake Canyon had worn away the north wall, forming a steep cliff. To pass this point the trail descended to the canyon floor and wound its way along a series of rock ledges at the foot of the cliff. The below photograph, looking across Woods Canyon into Rattlesnake Canyon, was taken from that ledge. Note the beautifully deformed old sycamore, bent in the direction of stream flow, shown in the foreground.

Looking across the canyon floor and into the mouth of Rattlesnake Canyon.

Once we passed the cliff at the confluence, the trail again climbed up the sloping north canyon wall and continued its undulating up and down course along the wall, now occasionally dipping again to the floor of the canyon to follow closely alongside the rocky Dry Beaver Creek streambed. This upper section of the trail was less well-maintained and we had to exercise care to avoid losing it. Of course losing the trail would always be only a temporary problem along here as there was nowhere to go but on up the canyon.

We stopped for lunch at noon, approximately a half mile from the end of the trail, and three of us decided to push on to the end before turning back. We thus ate quickly and continued on our way. Just before we reached the end of the trail we came to an ancient bent and twisted, but still sturdily defiant, Emory oak tree and stopped for a photograph.

Jim Manning leaning on an ancient Emory oak tree

I had loaded a track showing the trail and its end into my GPS and was hoping to find some official marker, perhaps an end-of-trail sign, showing that we had indeed arrived. Alas, when we did finally reach the spot, 5.4 miles from the trailhead, all we found was a cairn (below) erected on top of a large rock in the streambed.

The end of Woods Canyon Trail

We paused for a few minutes to look around at the scenery and then headed back to join the rest of the group.

Cliff walls to the north from the end of Woods Canyon Trail

The GPS track for this hike is shown in red on the included map (below). Note that the markers for the wire gate (Gate 2), the junction with Hot Loop Trail and the wilderness boundary are all grouped close together and cannot clearly be distinguished because of the map scale.

As measured from the GPS track, the total round trip hike distance was 10.8 miles, the maximum elevation was 4351 feet and the total ascent was 902 feet. We were on the trail for 7.5 hours.

Lost Canyon from Mescal Trailhead

Thirteen Skyliners hiked from the Mescal Mountain Trailhead on Long Canyon Road to the Indian Ruins in Lost Canyon on 5 January 2013.

Ten hikers left from the Cottonwood Safeway parking lot and drove north on Hwy 89A to Dry Creek Road in Sedona, took Dry Creek Road to the stop sign, turned right on Long Canyon Road (FR 152B) and continued 0.3 miles to the Mescal Trailhead. We met three additional hikers from Sedona there. The parking area, located on the east side of the road, has space for fifteen to twenty cars. The Mescal Trailhead is on the west side of the road, and a connector trail leaves the parking area leading east to connect with Chuckwagon Trail. This connector trail that would take us to Chuckwagon Trail was unidentified except for a posted map (shown below).

Map sign posted at the parking lot at Mescal Trailhead

We donned our packs and headed down the well-trodden trail, coming to the intersection with Chuckwagon Trail after just 0.2 miles. We turned northeast on Chuckwagon, traveling generally parallel to Dry Creek Road (FR 152).

We had joined Chuckwagon at an elevation of around 4500 feet, but the trail rose gently up a slope and we were soon a hundred feet higher. We could now look over our shoulders to the Black Hills across Verde valley. The photograph below shows Mingus and Woodchute Mountains on the horizon. Woodchute is clearly visible in the gap between the Cockscomb formation and Doe Mountain. Mingus is partially obscured by Cockscomb

The Black Hills shown on the far horizon

Finding a sunny, open spot, we paused for a group photograph.

Left to right: Becky Fowsky, Lila Wright, Lloyd Gardner, Daisy Williams 

(front), Mary Gavan (rear), Kwi Johnson, the author (front), Colleen 

Maktenieks, Miriam Sterling, Dolly Yapp (front), Mike Sterling and Betty 

Wolters – photograph by the thirteenth hiker.

After about another mile we came to a junction with the trail to Devils Bridge. From the Devils Bridge junction it was another 1.2 miles to the junction of Chuckwagon Trail with the connector that would take us to the Brins Mesa Trailhead on Dry Creek Road (FR 152). This junction is identified by the sign shown below. Note the forms of hikers barely visible ahead among the Arizona Cypress trees.

Trail sign at the Brins Mesa Trail connector with Chuckwagon Trail

About 75 yards along the Brins Mesa Connector Trail we crossed an old, but still used, road that apparently leads to the Van Deren Cabin (built by homesteader Earl Van Deren and later used in Blood on the Moon, a film staring Robert Mitchum)¹. After following the connector trail for about 0.3 miles from its start at Chuckwagon, we found ourselves at FR 152. A sign directed us to the Brins Mesa Trailhead which is located on a loop off the main road. In the photograph below (next page) you can see this sign, alongside FR 152, and hikers continuing along the loop road that leads to the trailhead and then returns to the main road a short distance ahead.

FR 152 is to the left of this sign; hikers are shown on a short loop that 

leads to Brins Mesa Trailhead

The following map was posted at the Brins Mesa Trailhead.

Note Lost Canyon (In yellow, between between Brins Mesa and 

Devil Bridge Trails)

We followed Brins Mesa Trail for only about 65 yards before turning right onto an unmarked trail leading to the southeast. This trail would take us up the slope of the mountain ahead and to the ledge along which we would hike into Lost Canyon. The trail crossed a dry wash and then headed directly up the mountain, sloping uphill gently at first, but rapidly becoming steeper as we climbed almost 450 feet to reach the ledge. Near the top we came to what at first looked like an impossible climb.

A steep climb on a rocky trail The final barrier to our path into Lost Canyon

However, we found that, albeit with some effort,we could climb up a very steep section of the trail located just to the left of the cliff shown here.

The trail to the top lies to the left of this cliff face

When we finally reached the top of the ledge, we paused to look back the way we had come. The cairn in the below photograph marks where our trail topped out.

The cairn marks the trail at the top of the cliff

As shown in the following photograph, we had a great view of the layered red cliffs in the canyons across the valley below.

Red cliff walls of canyons across the valley

Closer in, we also had a birds-eye view of the Van Deren Cabin, the blue tin roof visible in the center of the below photograph. The golf course just beyond the cabin, apparently a part of the Seven Canyons Development, is labeled Sedona-Oak Creek Golf Course on most maps I have seen. Seven Canyons, once a private club is now open to the public for a greens fee ranging from $45 to $125.

Van Deren Cabin and golf course beyond

The rest of the hike was along a level ledge with a steep cliff to the left and a steep dropoff to the right. The path was very easy to follow, although we did find a few muddy spots caused by still-melting snow.

The Indian Ruins, the first of two we wanted to see, that were our goal for a lunch spot soon came into view in a long overhang (some might say cave) high on the cliff wall to our left.

Cliff overhang containing Indian ruins

Below is a close-up view of the ruins in the cliff walls.

Remains of Indian dwelling in cliff wall

Part of the group clambered 150 feet up the steep slope to eat lunch at the ruins while the rest ate lunch on the ledge below.

It was just a short distance on up the trail from where the hikers below were eating lunch to an overlook above the second ruins, located deep in the canyon under an overhang on the opposite wall, and they continued along to see them. Meanwhile, those of us who had climbed to the first ruins, finished lunch and proceeded carefully along the face of the cliff to descend at the overlook. These ruins are located where the sun seldom, if ever, reaches, and we conjectured that they were used for a storeroom rather than living quarters.

Well-preserved ruins located under a shaded overhang in Lost Canyon

This marked the end of our hike, so we turned and headed back. We made good time along the ledge, made our way slowly and carefully back down the steep slope of the mountain, and were soon back on the Brins Mesa Trail.

When we reached the junction of the Brins Mesa Connector with Chuckwagon Trail, we decided to take the other loop of that trail, a section of trail that until recently was apparently called Gunslinger Trail, back to Long Canyon Road; it came out about four-tenths of a mile from where we had started the hike. We then hiked along Long Canyon road to the Mescal Trailhead parking lot where we had parked. That is some of us did; the others, considering that entirely too easy, followed a wash alongside the road instead.

According to my GPS our total in-and-out hiking distance was 7.0 miles, the maximum elevation was 5149 feet and the total ascent was 1598 feet.

The GPS track, cleaned up to remove some of the extraneous signals, is shown on the included map (below). The track from the Mescal Trailhead on Long Canyon Road to the overlook above the ruins located in the lower canyon is shown in red, the detour some of us made to eat at the ruins on the upper canyon wall and then on to the overlook above the ruins in the lower canyon is shown in green, and the section of Chuckwagon Trail we used for the return trip (the part that was previously called Gunslinger Trail) is shown in blue.

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