Red Riders: Soldier's Pass

In the 1880's, after the Apache Indians had been secured, Camp Verde officers often went to a small camp to find good hunting and fishing. It was called Camp Garden, but is now called Sedona. Soldier's Pass was used by them to travel from Camp Garden to Brin's Mesa and the upper Dry Creek area.

At the beginning of the hike we saw this amazing sink hole. A little farther in, we saw the seven pools area, which looked like huge, flat steps descending from the trail into the valley. As we hiked into the dusk and the evening, we gradually lost light. At the end of the hike, we were in the most technically difficult area and in almost total blackness. The absence of the moon made hiking difficult and we slipped and slided our way to an edge of a cliff. It was just barely big enough for all of us camp for the night. Exhausted, we setup camp and made dinner.

We fell asleep while watching the meteor showers. One shooting star was so bright, it woke me up.

Stacy and I talked about how far back we'd have to backtrack to find the Soldier's Pass Arches. We wanted to take the boys there in the morning, but we figured we'd passed it by about a 1/2 mile. In the morning, we discovered that the cliff we camped on was actually INSIDE THE ARCHES. We had the most spectacular campsite imaginable We all woke up amazed at the grandeur and beauty.

The campsite.

Dallin climbed up into one of the arches.

Mitch's tent almost blew right off the edge of the cliff. At the last second, Cameron caught it.

Aaron and Wes at the edge of our campsite, overlooking the valley of Soldier's Pass.

Dallin and Mitch climbed up onto the window of this arch.

Randy is climbing up this slot canyon.

The next day, we hiked Brin's Mesa. Old Brin was a huge bull that refused to be caught. He liked to graze up on the mesa and survived up there for five or six years, always evading capture. On the final attempt, two cowboys roped Brin and were dragged quite a ways. Rather than risk being killed, the cowboys shot Brin, and the mesa was named in honor of the bull's memory.

The boys are on their bellies, overlooking a cliff that is on top of the arches.