Sugar Loaf and Thunder Mountain Trails........24th March

Spring has sprung in the mountains...sorry folks back home we know you are really suffering......
A mixture of the snow melt and rains of a couple of weeks ago and then the warm weather has brought the desert to life.....

Our last hike for this trip is at Thunder and Little Sugar Loaf Mountains......mainly wilderness loop trails with some steep elevation and lots of rocks.....

What better places and views could there be to sit and eat our sandwiches ......we could be the only people on the planet,  so peaceful the only sound was the occasional buzz of a bee.....

Part of our hike today is  to climb to the summit of Little Sugar Loaf.......

At the top of Sugar Loaf......steep in parts and not good for vertigo but what fabulous views of the valley and cities of Sedona and Oak Creek.....

Looking back to Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte the first hikes we did in this area.....

Another great day on the trails......
BFN The Happy Hikers.....
Early night tonight.......big day tomorrow......watch this space for something amazing.......

"I Get My Kicks"................22nd March

Historic Route 66 in Williams AZ.......one of the few sections of the road still maintained.....
at last we get to sing the song.....

Sadly most of Route 66 is under interstate I-40.......

Todays journey up to Williams is really a fact finding mission to check out campsites for our next trip when we  plan to spend time visiting the Grand Canyon.  Although Williams is an hours drive from the Grand Canyon it is one of the few areas with campsites apart from staying in the National Park itself.....

Weather chilly today.....there's still snow in patches on the landscape driving up here but we are now  at 7000ft elevation .....not complaining as we know the weather back home is awful, we shall try to bring back some much needed sunshine :)

Boynton Canyon...........21st March

Today we are at Boynton Canyon and even the views from the car -park are stunning.......

Sorry for more rock photos but just can't stop clicking away.........

Our hike is a 5 mile 3 hour round trip up into Boynton Canyon.....the first part  of the trail passes by resort style housing...there can't be many better places to live out your retirement years.....

Our view from the top of the canyon......it was a fairly strenuous hike at times with an elevation gain of 450ft part of it through a pine forest with the last quarter of a mile very rocky and steep........but boy was it worth it.......

These rocks are part of the last section of the trail !!!

The top of the canyon......

And here we are the happy hikers at the top of the canyon.......
We had a good chat with 2 other couples from Indiana who it turns out are staying at our campsite and were on the train ride on Monday.........

YorkieMan enjoying the view from the top of the canyon.......

One of those moments in time of meeting eccentric  but interesting people.......we had heard from the campsite staff about a gentleman who finds heart shaped rocks in the Sedona area and gives them to visitors and I am lucky enough to be given one..........a lovely souvenir from mother earth to treasure.......
We've had another fabulous day, a really good hike in this most amazing area......

Fabulous Verde Canyon Railroad.........18th March

A highlight of this trip so far especially for me is today we ride The Verde Canyon Railroad....
It leaves from the Rail Depot at Clarksdale which is about 23 miles from home.......

This is our railcar.......we have splashed out and gone "1st class" not a lot more in price than coach but a few extras and better seating......

Part of ticket price a glass of `'champagne" to toast our trip.....

The Happy Travellers.....

As we leave Clarksdale there is historical evidence of what copper mining did to the landscape and environment in this area, much like the "slag" heaps just outside of Dawson City, Yukon due to the gold mining......
The copper ore mined from nearby Jerome was brought here to the Clarksdale smelter by rail. The smelter originally covered almost 200 acres producing 50 million tons of "slag".......this slag heap (this is just part of it)  covers 40 acres, averages 40 ft in depth and represents 40 years of operation ! 

Our train passing over the SOB Canyon Trestle on our way down through Verde Canyon......

Our journey is 40 miles there and back and takes 4 hours.......

The Verde River.....

As well as our Pullman coach there is also access to an open-air viewing coach......narration, knowledgeable staff and just about every train song every written complete the experience :)

Arms and heads inside the car please !!!

Around every corner is another fantastic sight......

We descend 500 ft in elevation on route to Perkinsville.....

Stunning red rock formations......

Tunnel approaching.....

The entrance to the 680 ft long curved tunnel.......
The tunnel was blasted through solid limestone and is supported by timbers only for about 30 ft at the far end of the tunnel.....although all of the work was done by hand (a crew of 25 Swedes) it was completed in just 6 months !

The old and deteriorating depot at Perkinsville (now a ghost town).......this is the end of the line .........passengers stay on board while the engines are brought up the side of  the train to hook up for the return journey to Clarksdale......
We are surprised that they haven't "done up" the depot and opened another gift shop !

What luck a sighting of a bald eagle in flight.....thank goodness for a very good telephoto lens.....

We had the most wonderful day and even getting home to find once again we have no hot water (we thought it had been fixed) couldn't dampen (sorry for the pun) our spirits......
These are only a few of my photos of course, I have tried to get a flavour of the day and not bore you to tears !......I also have videos !!!! I haven't worked out how to get them onto the blog yet but give me time !!!!