HIKE OF THE MONTH

hike of the month A.B. Young Trail in Red Rock Country Offers Scenic Treats Galore

Sitting alone on a flat boulder perched on the rim, I see tiny cars winding up the road between Sedona and Flagstaff in Oak Creek Canyon and hear only the low whine of tires on blacktop wafted aloft on the light morning breeze. Two hours ago, I started up the A.B. Young Trail on the west side of Oak Creek, a literal hop-skip-and-a-jump on stepping-stones crossing the creek from Bootlegger Campground. Sometimes called the East Pocket Trail, the route begins in ponderosa pine and oak as it climbs abruptly away from the creek into the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness. As I gained elevation, the pines gave way to low-growing manzanita, mountain mahogany, and scrub oak. The trail became a series of switchbacks, exposing the splendors of Oak Creek Canyon, both north and south. It's an old trail, the A.B. Young, going back to settlement days in the late 19th century. Back then the trail served mostly to move livestock to summer pasture on the rim. In the 1930s, the trail was improvedby Civilian Conservation Corps crews. Today it is in excellent shape, smooth and gently graded, a bit cobbly only where it crosses rockslide debris. Clumps of banana yucca heavy with fruit grow along thetrail. Some animal, a small one judging from the tooth marks, had been at the fruits, nibbling through the outer skin to get at the soft pulp and seeds within. The pulp tasted bitter, and I recalled that native people baked (LEFT) River rocks form stepping-stones across Oak Creek near Bootlegger Campground and the start of the A.B. Young Trail. (RIGHT) The top of the trail offers a stunning view of ponderosa pine forests and Oak Creek Canyon's soaring sandstone promontories.

or sun-dried yucca fruits and seeds before eating. They also made fine baskets from the plant's leaf fibers and used the curved leaf bases as spoons. Once on top, I followed the trail along the rim. Where the trail became indistinct, blaze marks and rock cairns led me forward. The blaze-mark scars, faint and almost healed, must have been slashed into the tree bark many years ago. After a short distance, the trail moves west to the East Pocket Lookout, one of the few remaining wooden fire-lookout towers in the state. The lookout was unoccupied, unfortunately, and its windowed cabin locked, so I was unable to top off my hike with a tower-top look at the San Francisco Peaks. But I remembered that flat boulder I'd passed on the way in, a prize lunch spot. So I turned around and headed back. Nearly 1,500 feet directly below my boulder perch, the white rooftops of posh resort hotels sparkle in the warm sunlight. A few miles down-canyon, the green orchards and lawns of Slide Rock State Park contrast sharply with the many-hued sandstone buttes, slopes, pinnacles, and cliffs of red rock country. Relishing the solitude, I take a bite of my apple. A red-tailed hawk drifts along the rim, riding a thermal as it hunts on the wing. I'm on top of the world.

WHEN YOU GO

To reach the A.B. Young Trail from Bootlegger Campground, a few miles north of Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon, cross the creek opposite the middle of the campground and walk downstream a short way to a marked trailhead. Don't cross the stream in high water. Spring and fall are the best seasons for hiking the trail. Parking in the campground costs $12. Instead, park north of the campground along the guardrail, or on the east side of the highway. For current trail and weather conditions, contact the Coconino National Forest's Sedona Ranger District, P.O. Box 300, Sedona, AZ 86339; (520) 527-3660.