Near the Enchantment Resort on Sedona's west side, Balanced Rock appears to have no means of support when seen from below. Up to the Rock, down the other side of the ridge past Devil's Bridge, and then back through the cypress forest below.
1 BALANCED ROCK
2 Starting from a short distance down FR 152
3 Our first sight of Balanced Rock. Getting to it requires going down into the intervening wash and up again.
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5 The was still has some ice
6 Now up the hill
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9 Coxcomb and Mingus Mountain
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17 No matter how close you get, it still looks impossible
18 The narrow saddle directly below the Rock
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20 Our way up is via the narrrow ledge to the right
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23 This leads us around to the sloping back of the pediment
24 This is the side we can climb
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29 Yes, it really is just balanced. Yet as shown by the fixed bolts
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33 Just below it, a good break spot
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35 Back across the skinny ledge...
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37 ...and the saddle to the side we came up...
38 But this time we stayhigh and go across to another notch in the ridge
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44 Here, we can go through again to the other side and head down
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46 It's shaded on this side, with some remaining ice
47 And in one place, tiny ferns
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49 Looking at the Rock from the other side
50 A coating of ice with running water under it
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54 We are now approaching the tourist-heavy Devil's bridge
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56 A short distance past it,...
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58 ...we come to a good lunch spot, facing the trail from Norm's Notch (off to right) and the ruins alcove
59 The cypress thicket in the center down below is where we go next
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64 Down into the trees. We walk along normally dry washes, but this soon after rain there is runoff
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70 The wet weather has brought out moss overwhere
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72 And some small waterfalls
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74 Because we're going downstream, the wash accumulates more water
