Soldier Pass Heights Apr 09
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SOLDIER PASS HEIGHTS
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We start at the Soldier Pass trailhead
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The first spring flowers are out! Indian paintbrush.
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Claret cup cactus
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Perky Sue
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Seven Sacred Pools
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Daffodils
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Sugar sumac
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Black-eyed daisies
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We leave the main trail here and head for the Heights
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Our first stop: a ruin with rock art
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This could be a partial metate
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Our break stop just after the ruins: great valley views
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A pour
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Cross-bedding
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These colors in rock art are uncommon
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Thick mats of moss growing on the gallery walls
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We make our way around the mountain, following this ledge line
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Our first big climb
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Lost Wilson Mountiain across the valley
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Another claret cup
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The back of the hill behind Capitol Butte
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Huge fallen blocks litter our path below the cliff
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THe Fort Apache layer is now visible high in the cliff
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We follow the top of this deep cut into the gap behind our mountain and the hill behind Capitol Butte
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Below the top of the Capitol Butte cliff, this perfect ruin
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We cross the end of the deep cut
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Now we follow the other side
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Wallflowers
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On the back of Capitol Butte, this twisty trail points to Devil's Bridge
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Fleabane
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A Sage lily
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Three-fourths of the way around. West Sedona is over that next ridge.
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Penstemon
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Norm's Notch, through which we will climb, is now in sight
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Our luch stop, just before climbing through the Notch
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The climb up
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That's the Fort Apache layer in the middle of the hoodoo
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We start descending between this and the wall to the left
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This is the only way to do it
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Now we take an easy trail along the ledges back to our starting point
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Rejoining the main trail
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