Sandys Canyon to Fisher Point

This hike to Fisher Point on Walnut Canyon rim via Sandys Canyon Trail off 0f Lake Mary Road near Flagstaff had been completed once before by this author on September 19,2009. I hiked with Lila Wright, Ellis Price, Betty Wolters, Dolly Yapp, and Carol Burtt. No, make that twice before. I just found photos taken on October 12,2013. I did not find any record of who was on that hike three years ago. However, in one of those photos I recognize the metal framework of Betty's backpack, seen where Betty is behind other hikers when entering into a cave in Walnut Canyon. A cave (right) which we went inside of again on this hike.

Another one of the photos taken in 2013 by Ellis Price shows the aspen trees next to the volcanic rock slide on the rim of Walnut Canyon (below left). This image shows leaves of yellow and gold aspens and snow on the San Francisco Peaks on that day in 2013. On this October 22, 2016 hike those aspens were completely bare of any leaves. And there was no snow on the San Francisco Peaks (below right)

Photograph taken in              Photograph taken on 

2013                                        this hike

Although the canyon bottom reached after descending on Sandys Canyon Trail seems to be a side canyon of Walnut Canyon I believe that it is the main gorge of Walnut Canyon which makes a 90 degree turn just below Fisher Point as can be seen on the map shown on page 139 of "Hiking Northern Arizona" by Bruce Grubs second edition.

Another confirmation of this can be found in the June 2009 issue of Arizona Highways magazine which includes a summer hiking guide describing Sandys Canyon Trail as beginning along the rim of Walnut Canyon and dropping down Sandys Canyon into the main gorge and continuing along the Walnut Canyon floor. This area of Walnut Canyon is illustrated by the topographic map shown here (left). I interpret the above to mean that Sandys Canyon is only the descending part of Sandys Canyon Trail and then Sandys Canyon Trail continues along in the bottom of Walnut Canyon. Parts of the trail in this area are quite sandy so Sandy without the added s could have also been the intended name of this Trail.

That same paragraph in that same Arizona Highways magazine says that one of the main features of this hike is geology. And that this is represented by the Coconino Sandstone cliffs at Fisher Point and referred to them as "petrified Permian Age sand dunes." The name, "Coconino sandstone" comes from a report about Sandys Canyon Trail saved from an Arizona Republic newspaper that was written by John Stanley years ago. That report described Sandys Canyon Trail as fairly easy, but with the short descent into the canyon being a bit steep in places and also says that after descending through tall ponderosa pines and glades of aspen, you pass from the tributary Sandys Canyon into Walnut Canyon proper and at about 1.5 miles from the trailhead you join the Arizona Trail and continue north another mile to the trail junction to Fisher Point. The name "Coconino sandstone" in that report comes from the description of this hike's highlights in which Stanley says that Fisher Point stands at the northern end of the hike and is a huge outcrop of strangely eroded Coconino sandstone. This out-crop of sandstone is shown in the photograph (right).

Before the ten Skyliners on this October 22, 2016 hike climbed up the switchbacks on Arizona Trail up and out of Walnut Canyon and took the short spur trail out to Fisher Point Vista we first continued down Walnut Canyon on an unnamed trail going past a shallow cave and even further to another, deeper cave, exploring both. Shown below are the shallow cave entrance (below left) and the deeper cave entrance (below right).

Shallow cave – under              Deeper cave
Fisher Point                  

Arriving at the deeper cave behind the other hikers I did not take the time to get my headlamp out of my backpack. One hiker with a flashlight pointed out a rock on the cave floor which I was about to trip over while trying to take a photo inside the dark cave. A couple of the photos that I did get were image of Joanne peering into the darkness of the cave (left) and around her were circles of light that I can only guess might be either camera condensation or spirit beings of light. The other photo image (below right) is of the high walls of the cave above and beyond where Joanne was in the previous photo.

Being so close to Flagstaff this trail gets lots of use by bicyclists and hikers seen by us on all parts of the trails except when going further down Walnut Canyon. In my notes made just after returning home from this hike I mentioned a flute player. I believe the flute player was heard then seen when we were almost back to where we had parked beyond where the trailhead is for Sandys Canyon Trail.

Somewhere along the trail Betty revealed that by riding with Terry she learned that he had grown up in the same area of Minnesota as where she had grown up. Skyliner hikes besides providing opportunity to enjoy beautiful scenery and to see a wide variety of plants and animals also gives us the opportunity to enjoy interesting conversations with each other and sometimes with strangers that we meet on the trails.

Going down through Walnut Canyon Dave Beach Looked up and saw a red-tailed hawk. Later while we were all eating lunch at Fisher Point Vista we saw some ravens playing in the thermal updrafts.

Hiking down Walnut Canyon just before reaching that deeper cave [some hikers thought the shallow cave did not deserve to be called a cave], I spotted something of interest that looked to me like a multi-tailed Sea Monster (left) had crawled up out of an ocean onto the rocks.

After leaving the cave and hiking further down the canyon, stopping for a snack, and beginning our return to the junction of the trail going up to Fisher Point Vista, along the way I saw some of the sandstone cliffs had an area that was colored a salmon pink and part pale yellow in between the layers of gray (right).

When we reached the junction and looked up at the Vista Point we saw some people already up there;but you would have to magnify the photo (below left) to be able to see the two people in that photo. For just a view of Fisher Point Vista from the bottom of Walnut Canyon see image (below right).

Vista Point                                 Fisher Point                          

Along the climb up to reach Fisher Point Vista you come to Forest Road 9112C which provides another way to reach Fisher Point Vista from the Flagstaff area. The Arizona Trail is the trail which gets us to a short spur trail that leads to the vista point. The last switchback before reaching the spur trail is a very long one and really angles uphill. When we got up high enough on the Arizona Trail we had a good view of the San Francisco peaks.

                                            View of the San Francisco Peaks

The overlook is a broad sandstone ledge, strewn with broken rock, pinon pine and scrub oak. Below Fisher Point Walnut Canyon stretches to the east and the trail leading to Sandys Canyon goes south. From Fisher Point Vista we could see the area where the canyon opens up in a treeless grass covered area where several trails come together (below left). And in the other direction we could almost see down into the bottom of Walnut Canyon below it's opposite tree covered canyon wall (below right).

Open area below                     Looking down into 

Fisher Point                               Walnut Canyon

After eating lunch we headed back down the trail to that area far below where the trails meet in that grass covered area where we had started the long climb up. We paused there for a group photo.

Left to right: Jim McGinnis, Joanne Hennings, Ellen McGinnis, Terry Johnson, Betty Wolters, Jim Gibson, Daisy Williams, Karl Sink, Anita Jackson and Dave Beach - photograph by Ellen McGinnis

The aforementioned flute sounds we heard when almost back to where we were parked were a very pleasant ending to that hike.

All photographs in this report are by the author unless otherwise noted.

Author: Daisy Williams