Morning at Cathedral Rock

Cathedral Rock while on the Slim Shady Trail

Yesterday I went hiking at Cathedral Rock.  This was a spectacularly beautiful day-- sunny and in the high forties.  I began hiking at about 10:30 AM and finished up around 12:30 PM, and after I looked at the map, it appeared that I'd hiked about five miles.  It's extraordinary country, and the National Forest trails are well marked, maintained, and even have little maps on the signposts when trails collide.  Here are two of my favorite photos of the hike:

Early on in the hike, on the Yavapai Vista Trail

Cathedral Rock while on the Templeton Trail

Dad has been battling a cold ever since we got here.  He felt a little better yesterday, so we took a little driving trip on the Red Ridge Loop Road. Below is a video of the horizon line up there.  It's astounding.

Dad got up this morning, made coffee, and said, "This is the first time I've actually felt like doing something."  I responded, "is that since we got here, or since before?"  His response:  "Before."  I thought a bit and said, "well, it's been a long time since you've had a vacation."  He chuckled, and with a surprised look on his face said, "I don't remember the last time I had a vacation."  So we chose to mark the occasion with a trip to nearby Cottonwood, Arizona to visit the Walmart, with plans to have lunch in historic "Old Cottonwood."

When I had visions of "historic old Cottonwood," I pictured my October, 2013 stay in Chloride, Nevada, in an old mining town on my trip to see the Grand Canyon that happened to coincide with the government shut down   (Luckily for me, some of the Canyon is on Indian land, and was therefore accessible.)  Chloride, a nineteenth century mining town, looked like this:

Main Street, Chloride, Nevada

The Jail in Chloride

When we got to "Historic Old Cottonwood,"  it still had its original buildings, but they were tarted up into fusion restaurants, crystal distributaries, and "fun for the kids" Disneyesque activities.  We opted to go further up "old Highway 89A" to Hog Wild Barbecue, where we had some delicious smoked pig and beef with clientele that looked like locals.  That culminated our excursion with a happy ending.

A selfie from my hike yesterday