Picture of the week ~ Fairy house

Red mountain, Arizona - hike

Blue skies everyday, hmmm a person could get used to that! 

We took our annual fall trip to Flagstaff the first 2 weeks of November. 

We found when we got back home, that the temps had really dropped here at home. While we had chilly nights in Flagstaff the days were pleasant with temps. mostly in the mid 60's during the days. We enjoyed walking to Red Mountain, we'd never been there before even though it's just a short drive north of Flagstaff.

Here's an excerpt from the Red Mountain link above: 

"Red Mountain, located in the Coconino National forest of northern Arizona, 25 miles northwest of Flagstaff, is a volcanic cinder cone that rises 1,000 feet above the surrounding landscape. It is unusual in having the shape of a "U," open to the west, and in lacking the symmetrical shape of most cinder cones. In addition, a large natural amphitheater cuts into the cone's northeast flank. Erosional pillars called "hoodoos" decorate the amphitheater, and many dark mineral crystals erode out of its walls. Studies by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Northern Arizona University scientists suggest that Red Mountain formed in eruptions about 740,000 years ago."

The area really did remind me of Bryce Canyon in Utah.

The trail is very easy, flat and short -

Our destination

nice ladder step over the wall

We enjoyed climbing around and through the rock formations

panorama (click to enlarge)

There was quite a bit of scenery besides the rock formations too -

;-) more scenery

We flew this year instead of driving so we could stay more days there. We flew from Bellingham to Vegas and then the same thing in reverse to return home. The return flight was interesting. A young woman across the aisle from us didn't seem to be drunk, but she was definitely using her airsick bag ALOT and went to the restroom and stayed for lengthy periods of time. We assumed it was the typical person coming home from Vegas that had partied a bit too much for their system, but after we'd been home just a few days my husband and I both developed all of the fun symptoms of the stomach flu. We quickly decided she probably wasn't suffering from her "What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas" activities, but that she just might have exposed our whole plane to this unpleasant bug. So, now after 5 days of being sick and losing 5 lbs. I'm finally well enough to share some of our trip fun. Whew.....and back to my daily routine that I love -

and that explains why I'm not posting about our weekly Trailblazer hike.