Tuzigoot National Monument - Clarkdale, AZ

Tuzigoot (Apache for "crooked water") is the remnant of a Sinagua village built between 1000 and 1400. For 3 centuries they kept adding rooms to it. The original pueblo had 87 ground-floor rooms.

Schuerman Mountain - Sedona

This is a short and easy trail to the top of a basalt mesa overlooking Sedona and the Verde Valley. The summit of this extinct volcano offers wonderful views.

The Painted Desert - Petrified Forest National Park

I hiked 13.6 miles off-trail in the Painted Desert at Petrified Forest National Park. It took me 7 hours. I headed out to the remote northwest corner and didn't even see footprints out there. Most people don't venture beyond the half mile trail that drops from the rim into the badlands.

Wandering off-trail is my favorite type of hiking. I love choosing my own path through the Painted Desert. It's the freedom and solitude that draw me into the badlands where wind and water have ravaged the landscape. This is where I find peace from OCD.

Wandering among the badlands.

 

My 13.6 mile off-trail hike.

Homolovi State Park - Winslow, AZ

This is a really nice state park that I always visit when I plan on going to the Petrified Forest National Park. I really like the high desert and big sky here.  "Homolovi" is Hopi for "Place of the Little Hills."

Site #44

Site #44

Blowout Wash - Cottonwood, AZ

I hiked a 4.4 mile loop trail at the new Blowout Wash Trails in Cottonwood. The trail wanders among junipers, mesquite, ocotillo, and bear-grass. Among the drainages are spots of cottonwoods and walnut trees.  I need to go hiking as often as possible. It keeps my OCD under control. Without the trails I am lost because the path guides me to a better place.

Blowout Creek

Blowout Creek

Blowout Creek

Blowout Creek

 

Blowout Creek

My 4.4 mile hike.