Sedona: Broken Arrow & Soldier's Pass

[kaspily 2]

Chris and I took a few extra days of vacation before the Smiley Rock trip to go play up in Sedona. When Chris got his WJ the first trail we did was Broken Arrow. We used every skid plate on his stock WJ. So we decided to run the trail again to see how "Hope" did. It turned out to be really easy and fun to play on now that she modified. We do still need to do something about her fat rear and change the bumper as we rubbed a few times.

 

We got to Sedona around lunch time and it was a bit cooler (90s) than Tucson. This was after some electrical issues that caused some weird transmission hiccups. We stopped off at O'Reiley Auto to buy some new battery connectors and that seemed to fix the hiccups for the rest of our vacation.

 

 

We did Soldier's Pass First (since it was right next to O'Reily). Other than two spots the trail was really easy. We went to the right to go check out Devil's Kitchen first. We certainly annoyed the hiker's who wanted total quiet. We only saw two other Jeeps on this trail which is surprising for the Sedona area.

 

 

 

 

We then drove on to the seven pools section. We came across more hikers who didn't have enough water. We offered to refill their bottles but they declined. I hope they made it back okay.

 

 

After running this quick trail we drove over to run Broken Arrow. The views of Sedona from the trail are awesome!

 

 

We tried to recreate some of the shots from when we got the Jeep to what she looks like now. Here is the current look:

 

 

This is the before in the same spot:

 

This time we got to see Submarine Rock and the trail ends right in front of what would be an easy climb to the top of Submarine Rock. Chris and I hiked up to the top and enjoyed the views:

 

 

 

 

We ate a quick lunch of chicken enchiladas in our car oven and then were on our way. I think the tourists were envious of our air conditioning as they baked in the sun

 

 

At Chicken Point I finally noticed all of the scrapes to the underside of the Jeep. We got some of these on the previous Chivo Falls runs. I think my husband is just trying to really convince me about needing a different bumper.

 

 

The last time we ran this trail we were too scared to try this steep spot. This time it was easy:

 

 

 

 

The true test of the Jeep was the steps at the end of the trail. the first time we did this trail we bounced on our skid plates off every step. This time was completely different:

 

 

 

We had fun playing midweek on these trail and they weren't overrun with pink Jeeps. After this we headed over to Prescott to stay at The Motor Lodge for a few nights.

[ZMagic97 1]

Beautiful photos, looks like a great trip!

 

I agree on mid-week and early hour rides; the Jeep tours and rentals make it busy. Going mid week or even on weekends really early makes it more relaxing.

[dzJeepChic 2,565]

Sedona trails are so mellow - looks like a lot of fun for sure.

[UnderlyVerbose 1]

Your photos coming down the staircase look familiar...

 

 

[stockjeep 34]

nic pics and report, never run these trails hope the group can set something up when cooler weather comes

[matt@expaz 2]

Love Sedona and those trails. Looks like you guys had a great time! Thanks for sharing your pics. Yep, I see a new rear bumper in your future

[Guardrail 1]

Ok, who took the photos of the stairs. Everybody mentions that photos never do an obstacle justice, but I have to say that those last photos of the stairs with the black WJ coming down is the worst I've seen them look.

 

Man! I gotta get to Sedona.

[Guardrail 1]

Great photos and trip report BTW!

[Guardrail 1]

I've seen on some other sites that the stairs are one way and you're only allowed to go down them. Is that true? I'd love to try going up.

[Bradywgn71 801]

I've seen on some other sites that the stairs are one way and you're only allowed to go down them. Is that true? I'd love to try going up.

 

It's true that they are listed as one way, but numerous people have gone up them. There is a turn-around area near the top. I personally don't think it's a big deal if someone wants to attempt a climb. If you wanted to try to climb them, I'd go early on a mid-weekday to avoid the Jeep tours as much as possible.