Over 20 Arizona Trailblazers camped at Pine Flat Campground at Oak Creek for four days and three nights. We hiked the Weatherford Trail, Bismark Lake, Arizona Trail, and West Fork Trail. The weather was perfect for all those days. We all had great time!

For most people, Friday was Driving Day from Phoenix to the campground. Some of us (Mary, Jade, Carl and Lin), we went to Lava River Cave for a short hike. It is an interesting hike, only 1.5 miles long, but it took us almost two hours to complete the whole trail. It was a cold 40°F (5°C), dark, and very slippery. There were chunks of ice welcoming us at the entrance.

Around 2 PM, most of the people arrived the Pine Flat Campground. It is a beautiful campground next to the Oak Creek with many tall pine trees. Everyone was busy to set up the tents, which we would call home for next the few days. We were planning to hike the Cookstove Trail, which is across the road from our campsite, but with such a beautiful and calm early evening no one was interested in hiking. So plan B, let us just enjoy the cool breeze in the campground. Rudy, camping extraordinaire, started the campfire. John took out his guitar, people started drinking and singing and dancing. Yes, I mean dance. Carol Lin and Mary showed us they can move without any alcohol.

Sun is setting,

Campfire is burning,

People are laughing.

What a wonderful start for our camping trip!

After a very relaxing night, we all got up early and ready for our first hike of this trip. Diva, Ralph, and Nicole met us at campground, Mary and Wendy met us at the Schultz Tank Trailhead. Carol Lin was not feeling well, so she decided to stay at the campsite to rest. Yanis injured his foot on last weekend. He is here for the camping but would not able to hike any trail. Therefore 19 of us left the campsite on time and headed to the Schultz Tank Trailhead.

Weatherford Canyon is located in the San Francisco Peaks area. It starts at its lowest point near Schultz Tank, at 8800 feet, where you’ll be treated to an open Ponderosa Pine forest that quickly climbs into Aspen. Chuck is helping me lead the hike today. After a quick introduction and photo op, we waste no time in starting.

The first section of the trail was well marked, an old roadbed constructed in the 1920s by John Weatherford, who would take tourists to the top. After 0.7 miles into the trail, we took right at an unsigned fork into Aspen Spring Trail. The trail descends slightly into Weatherford Canyon and continues up the canyon through a dense stand of young aspen.

Wow, what a beautiful trail! We saw the most healthy and beautiful aspen trees in this area. Everyone was so excited, wow here, and wow wow there. We tried to take the best pictures of the scenery, some of us lay on ground ... thanks, Vicki. You are the best. Some of us tried to climb up the trees, some of us rode on the aspens …. too much fun. Here just look those pictures for yourself.

After exiting the Aspen Spring trail we rejoin the Weatherford trail. Some of us just had too much fun and wanted to go back to the trailhead, while some of the more restless hikers wanted to continue on Weatherford trail to the top. So we split into two groups. One of the groups would go right and continue hiking up the Weatherford Trail. The other group would go left on Weatherford Trail and go back to the trailhead.

I was in the left group. Before we went our separate ways, someone on the right group told the left group to “keep right at the junction.“ We did, and we ended up on a dead end. Haha, that was not funny, because the reason we turned left was because we were tired and wanted to go back to the trailhead earlier. By the time we got back the junction, we met our right group back from their hike. Together once again, we marched back to the trailhead together.

Tonight is Potluck night. After we got back to our campsite, everyone was on a mission: cook the best potluck food ever. And boy did we do that! The food was yummy. As usual, John S. cooked the best steak. Carol Lin’s Beef Noodle soup was yummy. Jim’s Greek salad was awesome. The dessert was sweet: Diva’s fruit basket was too pretty to eat, Mary’s cupcakes were delicious, and the other fruits were very refreshing. The drinks? We had wine, beer, and yes, Margarita too. Thanks Diva and Ralph, I had my very first Margarita. I love it. I am over 21 years old, last time I checked. Nicole came late with her husband and son, but she brought the best pork loin.

It was an awesome day today. We had a great hike with perfect weather, with perfect drinks and delicious food. Thanks, everyone.

Today we are going to Bismark Lake. Carol Lin is feeling better today, so she is coming with us. A total of nineteen of us drove to the trailhead for our second day of hiking.

This trail was recommended by Chuck, so Chuck is leading again (thanks, Chuck). We met at the trailhead (Mary joined us there too), took a few group pictures, and we were ready to go.

The first section was well marked. It follows the old road through ponderosa pine forest. That was the easy part. About a mile from the trailhead, a spur trail branches left to Bismark like. Usually Bismark Lake is a muddy pond most of the year. But since we had great snowfall for the past winter, there was lots of water in the lake. The main trail continues east up the meadow, then turns south and continues through a short section of forest.

Should we satay on the trail, or we should turn left after it passes Lew Tank, about 1.5 miles from the trailhead. Turned left we did. But after few hundred yards, we reach a dead end. Rudy and Mohammed took the lead and tried to scout the trail. No such luck. So we doubled back and hiked a bit more, all while trying to find our left trail. Well, we ended at a cliff, with no more trail to follow and no more road to continue on. Ha Ha, so what can we do now?

By this time, a few people took their smart phones out and tried to search for a new trail to hike. Thanks to Mary and her phone, there is the Arizona Trail not far from us, so we decided we would just hike the Arizona Trail. The rest of hike was a piece of cake: follow the Arizona trail. We only did a few miles before returning back to the trailhead because this trail is 189 miles to Utah and 641 miles to Mexico, and none of us were planning to go to Mexico today. That was a wise choice, because we still had lots of yummy potluck food waiting for us at the campground.

After dinner, knowing this is our last night of camping, everyone is more relaxed and ready for more fun. So we played some games, like the Alphabet game, name Food, Occupations, Cities, Car, Body parts, Countries. That was the best time for everyone. It was tough for some letters, such as X, Y and Z. Luckily, someone here knows German and Chinese. And Chinese uses lots of X’s and Y’. It was a fun night, best time ever. Thank you all.

It is the last day of our camping trip. We still have one more trail to go before packing up our tents and leaving the campground. Since West Fork is a very popular trail in Sedona and the parking space is limited, we planned to leave early to start our hike. The gate opens 8 AM, but we were there before 7:45 AM. Carl’s car was fifth in line, follow by Rudy and John S. I still cannot figure out why they opened at 8 AM. It is most popular trail in Sedona area, summer season, holiday, so why they cannot open earlier?

Quick note: Vicki left last night try to avoid the traffic. Mimi, Monika, Joe and Mohammad are planning to leave in the morning. Mary and Nicole are busy with other events, but Ralph and Diva are planning to meet us at campground.

West Fork is one of the most beautiful and popular trails in Sedona. We have been there many times in different season. In the springtime you will see many wildflowers, Apple trees are blooming, wild grapes are sprouting. In the summertime you will see dragonflies and butterflies are dancing on the flowers blanket, occasionally garden snakes swimming in the creek and crossing the trail right front of you. In the fall time you will see the most colorful trees there. In the winter time it shows a completely different side of oak Creek. Icicles hang off the cliffs and snow hides between the red rocks. It is a peaceful and quiet canyon.

The gate opened on time, we all rushed in, parked the car, and were ready to go. Well, it is a short hike, only 6 miles, but we needed to get back to campground before 1 PM to check out.

For some of us that was their first time to hike this trail, they take their time and soak in every inches of beauty were there. For some of us was just diving in try to find the old memory we left here last time, and try to find new beauty that we missed before. After we cross the stream many times, after we wet our shoe many times, after we smell many wildflowers, we reach and end of canyon, a pool of water surrounded by cliffs. You could possibly travel another 11 miles upstream with fun boulder hopping, wading, and maybe even some swimming. That is going to be our next adventure. Eleven of us took a quick group pictures and marched back to the trailhead. It was a beautiful morning. We planned to be back to the trailhead by 1 PM, which we did exactly. Boy, we are good!

After we headed back to the campground, everyone was focused and quickly cleaned up our sites, packed our equipment and left there on time, before 2 PM.

Thanks to everyone for joining me for the long weekend, especially my friends Sura and Pierre, for trusting me to let me bring my hiking friends (Sura and I have been camping at Pine Flat at same site for many years).

Thanks to Jim, Kim, Rudy, Carl, Chuck, Monica, Carol Lin, Joe, Mary, Yanis, and John R to make reservation for the sites.

Thanks, Carl, for the perfect weather forecast reports.

Thanks, Jim, for taking care of the attendance every day.

Thanks, Rudy, to keep the fire going every night and showing off your entertainment skills.

Thanks to everyone to bring your favorite food and drink (personal thanks Diva and Ralph for giving me my very first Margarita, I like it).

Thanks, Carol and Kim, for donating money to the Sunday night dinner.

Thanks to all the potluck helpers (Monika M, Monika H, Mary, Vicki, Sura, Jade, Kim), the food was so much better because of you.

Thanks, Mary, for your help with finding a new trail to hike, brought all those salad and dessert for our Sunday night dinner, not mention to let us use the shower and taste smell your Lavender and Lemon shampoo and body wash gel.

Thanks, John, for the wonderful steak and your calm songs with your guitar.

Thanks, Jade, for your marshmallow roasting skill, they are yummy.

Thanks, Ralph, Diva, Wendy and Nicole, for joining us for few hikes.

Thanks, Chuck, for helping me leading the hikes in Flagstaff.

Thanks for all the safe drivers, knowing you will bring everyone safely to the campsite, the trailheads, and home on this busy long weekend, I am so grateful.

Thanks, Chuck, John S, Wendy, Carl and many more, who provided all those memorable pictures.

Thanks, Arizona Trailblazers Hiking Club, because we are outdoor and nature lovers, able to share our day, night, joy, and time together in this beautiful state.