West Fork in Sedona, Arizona - The Trail I Keep Walking

I've lost count of how many times I've walked the West Fork Trail in Sedona, Arizona. The first few times, I went with a map and a plan to reach the narrows early in the day.

Now I go without a plan. That's the whole point.

The trail starts the same way every time, and I love that is has become familiar. Depending on how far out you go, the entire hike can take 2-3 hours. The parking lot is usually full very early.

I begin on the short walk over the bridge, past the apple orchard, along the sandy trail and passing the old homestead ruins that have been there for a hundred years. From there, a right turn will take you into the canyon. You can feel the temperature drop as you enter the canyon.

The walls of the old homestead at West Fork.

The first creek crossing is always different depending on the season. Crossing the creek can be a hop, sometimes a wade up to my boots, and in the depth of winter, a frozen creek that cannot be crossed easily. I've experienced all three.

One of the creek crossings on the West Fork Trail.

The trail has changed for me every time I have walked it.

The first time, I counted the crossings back and forth over the creek and kept checking how far I was from the famous narrows. There are about 13 crossings over the creek.

I made it to the narrows, where the walls close in and the light can be beautiful if you are lucky and time it perfectly. I wasn't able to go very far into the narrows to experience all the light because of the water's depth and speed at the time. But, I did capture a few photographs. I don't look at them much anymore.

What I seek now on my trips back into Oak Creek is smaller. The bigtooth maple trees that line the creek most of the way up. Depending on the month, they're either bare, fully green, or for about 2 weeks in late October, if the fall has been cool enough - the leaves turn so gold that the trail feels lit by the colors of the forest.

Fall colors on the West Fork Trail.

West Fork colors in the Fall.

I also now stop for the blue-gray streaks that are often called "desert varnish". These colors give a painterly effect to the red walls along the trail. The canyon walls are full of dramatic contrasts between rust-red rock and blue-black gray streaks. It feels like nature's canvas.

Desert varnish on the red rocks.

Nature’s abstracts along West Fork.

I used to think that the point of this trail was the narrows - what many people define as the destination. There is a reason it shows up on every Sedona list, and a reason the parking lot is full early in the morning. The narrows are beautiful, genuinely, and I still like to go up there when I have the time.

But the point now is taking in all I can along the West Fork trail. The colors of the season on the bigtooth maple trees, the homestead ruins, the sound the creek makes at the sixth crossing over the creek, which is different from the third one. I'm not sure why. It just does.

The creek is low during the summer months.

I am also not sure what this says about slow travel, exactly, except that I think it's mostly this: the good part isn't what everyone came for. Sometimes it's the tenth walk on the same trail to the same place, noticing something you missed the other 9 visits.

West For in full bloom.

Wherever you are on your journey, I wish you beautiful and memorable moments along the way.

Marla

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Wander With Marla is a biweekly newsletter about sustainable travel, a few travel tips and stories along the way, and lots of photography. 😉

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