Are We lost Yet?

More correctly, 33% submitted. There are still several steps between my submission and actual publication.

These are the ten hikes I submitted for the 33% installment:

SEDONA:

Airport Mesa

Parson Springs

The Lime Kiln Trail

Woods Canyon

FLAGSTAFF

Anderson Mesa

Sandys & Walnut Canyons

O’Leary Peak

Winter Cabin Loop

Kelsey Springs Loop

Sycamore Rim Trail

I have two other hikes completed but not turned in for various reasons:

Verde Greenway Trails

Overland Road

Add the three hikes I submitted in June and I am within sight of halfway.

First, for those who may not have been able to follow the story, the Schultz fire is fully contained. You can see a couple spots on the mountain that still smoke, but those are deep within the burn zone.

Most of the eastern and central slopes of the San Francisco Peaks remain closed.

But I have a plan as soon as they open…

On that subject, as promised earlier:

Checklist for hikers

(and hiking guide authors)

Items that pertain to normal people are written normally.

(Items that pertain only to guidebook authors are in parentheses).

AT HOME:

1. Pick a hike. Don’t just drive somewhere and hope for inspiration.

1. Pick the best hike feasible. Never skip a good hike for a mediocre hike thinking, “I’ll get to that other hike soon enough…” Weather/health/family/jobs sabotage hiking opportunities all the time. (If you haven’t prioritized your hike list by coolness vs accessibility, go do that now.)

1. Do a little research. This, of course, depends on how comfortable you are with uncertainty. Some hikers like to know everything before they go (for which guidebook authors must be grateful). Some just want to know how to get to the trailhead, and let everything else be a surprise. At a minimu, though, you should know what the weather’s going to be like, and the water or fire conditions.

1. (Learn something about the history, geology and ecology of your hike destination - so you know what to look for on the trail. Yeah, you can do a lot of that afterwords, but why work harder?)

PACKING THE GEAR

1. Get a map. Bring it with you. Your GPS does not count. (Print an extra one for your wife - so she can refer to it when she calls the emergency response team later)
2. Organize your essential survival things. (Have these in a kit ready to go, and keep that kit in your vehicle, so your son does not plunder it).
3. Calculate the most water you could possibly consume on the hike, and put at least twice that amount in the car.
4. Don’t forget lunch!
5. Make sure your GPS, flashlight and camera are charged.
6. (Make sure your GPS has memory left.)
7. (Make sure your flashlight actually works.)
8. Make sure you camera has memory.
9. (Clean the lens on the camera.)
10. (Bring a notebook and a working pen - because bad things can happen to digital recording devices in the wild).
11. If the hike is more than 10 miles round trip, or you know you won’t make the trailhead until after 11 am, pack extra batteries for the flashlight, and bring an extra layer of clothing. At ten miles or more, or a noon start or later, you are one wrong turn from looking for the trailhead by moonlight.
12. Gather this stuff the night before if you can.

AT THE TRAILHEAD

1. Turn on the GPS, and let it find the satellites while you do the rest of your things.
2. Finish your coffee. It won’t taste good when you get back.
3. Now drink something else - don’t start the hike dehydrated.
4. (Write down the GPS coordinates of the trailhead. Don’t just recite them into the DVR - write them down! Remember altitude.)
5. Top off all the water containers.
6. If there is some sort of toilet - use it. Especially if there are a lot of other cars at the trailhead. I don’t have to explain this logic - right?
7. (Test the recording devices. Get the date and start time in the first recording, so you can use it on your blog seven months from now.)
8. (Take a Bongo picture at the trailhead.)
9. Lock the car.
10. (Catch up with your companions who grew weary of your fussing and have already started the hike.)

I have contracted with Menasha Ridge Press (our fine host here) to write 5 Star Hikes - Flagstaff and Sedona (or some very similar title. It’s not official until it gets an ISBN)

The following is adapted from the style guide:

Five-Star Trails combines elements of the popular 60/60 series (60 Hikes within 60 Miles of . . . [city]) with those of the D&O series (Day & Overnight Hikes in. . . [national forests, national parks, other wilderness areas]). [...]
Like the 60/60 series, Five-Star books typically cover hiking in and around cities, but Five-Star books’ anchor locations are smaller urban areas than those chosen for 60/60. For example, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta are 60/60 topics, whereas Spokane, Boise, and Chattanooga are examples of cities that fit the Five-Star profile. Also, Five-Star books present only 30 to 40 hikes-or half- to two-thirds as many as the 60/60 series.
In common with the D&O series, a Five-Star Trails book provides starred ratings in several categories presented in a box at the top of each new hike entry.
Unlike the D&O series, Five-Star Trails is geared to day-hikes and rarely touches on camping or extended trail time.

I have already started work on the guide and have several Sedona area hikes completed (the hiking anyway):

Airport Mesa Loop

Brin’s Mesa / Soldier Pass

Bell Trail (Wet Beaver Creek)

Woods Canyon trail (Dry Beaver Creek) (Yes, these creek names are real)

Lime Kiln Trail (the whole 15+ miles)

Verde River Greenbelt

MRP’s publicity packet suggests I blog somewhere about how the hike actually went (since the book has almost no personal references), and a few notes to supplement the information in the guide.

What a swell idea.

You can expect some posts on those hikes, and all the others as we go.