There are 12 persons (Dave, Jennie, Chuck, Emie, Beth, Robin, Kay, Joe, Michael, Rudy, Sheila, Melanie) who have decided to do the drive up to Flagstaff for the Red Mountain hike.

We take 180 out of Flagstaff until we get to the signed exit to Red Mountain, then take a dirt road up to the parking lot to start the hike. This is an easy hike though the pine forest into an old volcanic crater.

According to the sign at the trailhead this crater is over 1 million years old. We get to start the hike with a view of Mt Humphreys to the east with snow still on it. This hike has open space with flowers and scrub pine trees that give some shade.

After you make the short uphill the trail becomes a streambed that runs into the heart of the volcano. We have to climb a set of wooden stairs up a small waterfalls if there is any water.

The walls here are loose cinders, which come in many shades of gray. Here in the middle of the crater is a small grove of trees that we decide to have lunch under before exploring the crater. The rocks in the crater come in many colors of red, yellow, black, and all the colors in between. There are many small canyons that run every which way.

We take a group picture in one of these canyons. Can you find all 9 persons in the photo?

We spend the next couple of hours going up a few of the canyons.

We should have brought gloves and long pants, because this rock may look soft, but it is rough and bites into the hands. We decide to exit this wonderland of crazy shapes and color.

This is a easy 3 to 4 mile hike depending on how many canyons you decide to explore.

There are no major ups or downs unless you decide to climb some of the walls.

The shapes in the crater change after every rain, so even if you go multiple times you will see different shapes every time.