Thunder Mt. via West Face Summit Access Route

Mary Gavin led seven members of the Skyliner group on a hike to the top of Thunder Mountain (Capitol Butte) using the West Face Summit Access Route.  (NOTE: This trail name was taken from an Arizona Topomap from www.gpsfiledepot.com that I use with my GPS.)  Hikers from the Cottonwood area drove to Sedona Turned on Dry Creek road and drove to Vultee Arch Road where we met the members from the Sedona area in the parking lot.

We left the parking lot at the junction of Dry Creek Road and Vultee Arch Road on a trail leading east.  About 65 yards ahead we came to a trail junction and had the option of turning right (generally south) or left (generally north); we turned right.  After another 0.1 miles we came to a fork in the trail and turned left (still trending generally south).  According to my Arizona Topomap, the trail that we did not take is called “Unknown Trail east of Dry Creek Rd.”  The left turn kept us on the West Face Summit Access Route and we continued for another 130 yards before again turning left.  This turn is marked by a large Juniper, which is fronted by a slightly smaller dead Juniper.

The correct trail leads between these two trees

The trail, which had started at a relatively modest slope, inclined ever more sharply upward.  When we reached the saddle behind Lizard Head we were all ready for a short rest.  At least I was and I heard no one else complain about the stop.

After resting, we continued on our way.  We had about another 1000 feet to climb and that included the steepest, most precarious part of the trip.

Hikers climbing up a crack in the cliff face

We remembered to take a group photograph, but I think the camera was perched on a shaky branch and the light must have been poor. The picture turned out to be so blurry that I have chosen to leave it out, instead just listing the names of those who made the hike.

The hikers were:

Jim Manning, Kwi Johnson, Lila Wright, Becky Fowsky, Ellis Price, George Everman and Mary Gavan

After the abortive group photograph we continued on, the climbing becoming ever more difficult and the footing increasingly precarious.

The top was surely up there somewhere, but we would never reach it 

without a few cracks in the cliff face – photograph by George

When we finally arrived at the top of Thunder Mountain (Capitol Butte), we had spectacular views in all directions.

Looking down on Sedona and the airport with Courthouse Butte, 

Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock visible in the distance

Well aware of my need for a noon nap when hiking, Mary pointed out the best sunny “sleeping rock” and I settled in for my nap.  But first, I managed to get a very good shot of the rest of the group on the summit rock.

Top to bottom: Kwi Johnson, Mary Gavan, Becky Fowski, Jim Manning, 

Lila Wright, George Everman. Oak Creek Canyon is visible to the right.

Mingus and Woodchute visible across the Verde Valley; closer in 

Cockscomb stands out (see right)

Refreshed by lunch and a good rest we felt up to the descent.

Descending the mountain – photograph by George

Still descending the mountain – photograph by George

The trip down turned out to be a little easier than the climb to the top, at least for me, and the one spot several of us dreaded most was a breeze.  On the way down we just sat on a rock that we had trouble navigating across when headed up and placed our feet on a rock lower down … a maneuver better performed on the way down.  I am not sure the reverse would have worked at all on the way up.

We had a short discussion when we arrived back at the saddle behind Lizard Rock as to whether we should make our way a few yards farther to actually touch the formation, but decided to just declare that we had climbed to Lizard Rock, which indeed we had, and leave well enough alone.  As I said, that was a short conversation.

We all arrived back at the parking lot tired out but in good shape.  The hike was, according to my GPS, the hike distance was 2.6 miles round trip, the highest elevation was 6354 feet and the total ascent was 1742 feet. The GPS route of this hike is shown on the included map (below).

My advice is to not take this hike unless you are in very good physical condition and are sure of foot.

Thunder Mountain was scheduled as a Skyliner’s hike on 14 April 2012. However, in view of the steep rocky trail that would not be suitable for some of our hikers, we substituted another hike from the same parking lot. This alternative hike would be Vultee Arch Road to Devils Bridge and back with, perhaps, a little extra exploration along the way, an estimated 6 miles round trip. Mary, meanwhile, had agreed to lead another hike to Thunder Mountain for the hardy few who still might want to make it.

When the 14^th of April arrived, I was on a trip to Ireland, but I understand that bad weather intervened and the Skyliners did not hike at all that day.