Once again, off work, back on the road, off to Sedona we go on a Wednesday afternoon. First stop along the way is one of my favorite nano breweries is the Verde Brewing Company. They have come a very long way in perfecting their brews. The Bullpen Bourbon Stout has always been my favorite but Carolyn and I decided to change things up. I went with the Gold Buckle Blonde and Carolyn had the Wildflower IPA. Both excellent and both brewed with local honey. Usually I would go with the IPA and Carolyn the blonde but it appears we have evolved in our craft beer selection. The nachos Elote style were an excellent appetizer. The only negative is the location. I much preferred the previous location but it sounds like they will be working on getting a nicer setup. No matter what, it is worth the stop. Of course we had to do a few cheers and toasts to our friends with birthdays.

On to Sedona we head to our home away from home, the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock. I just can’t resist using my benefits at this property and everybody is always so nice. Ran into Irwin who was once an an engineer at the 24th St and Thomas Embassy and who is just a super nice guy. Anyhow, Congratulations to Irwin and his wife as they are expecting their first child. What a great conversation. We spent the night, did our breakfast thing with Jose a super nice server who has been there for something like 17 years. He alone is worth the stop. But we did come to take a hike so with threatening rain we decided to do something completely new to us.

Thursday morning we drove over to the Red Rock High School area off of Upper Red Rock Loop Road to the trailhead for Herkenham Trail. We had looked at maps and decided to make our own loop using existing trails while logging some miles. We went counter clockwise on the Herkenham Trail to the Old Post Trail and turned left. From the Old Post Trail, we met up with the Carroll Canyon Trail and took it to the Ridge Trail and over to the Old Post Trailhead off of Shelby Drive. From there we headed back on another section of the Old Post Trail to the Skywalker Trail and back to the starting point.  According to my AllTrails App, we hiked 6.5 miles, and had a 712 foot elevation gain throughout the hike. It was beautiful and it was private. We encountered two humans, (within first mile) and saw many deer. It sprinkled and it rained but it was beautiful. The first 1.5 miles is basically going down and then you continue to regain elevation on the way back around the loop. Our total hike time was about 2.5 hours at a nice leisurely pace and we were glad that we had some rain gear. We even had some thunderclaps off in the distance that kept us going. The views looking out towards Bell Rock and then the Carroll Canyon area are fantastic.

Once we were finished, we headed our wet selves over to the Sedona Beer Company and dried off and headed back down to the Valley. Oh and by the way the temperature outside? How about a very cool 52 degrees. Yes indeed, it was a great day to be walking hand in hand with the one I love.