To the Bat Cave, Lisa
“I am Catwoman. Hear me roar.”
Lisa was pretty proud of her accomplishment. And I was proud of her.
Soldiers Pass Cave in Sedona, Arizona. 561 feet of elevation gain over 3.34 miles. Soldiers Pass Trail seemed like a nice little hike. But when you’re so close to something special, why not take the “spur trail” to scramble up the most challenging part of the park.
The trailhead had a very small parking area - limited to just 14 cars. The gate to parking opened at 8:00 AM, which meant that we would need to arrive at 7:00 AM to ensure that we got a spot. In other words, we got to sleep in today!
While Lisa hung out in the Jeep in line, I took a stroll through the neighborhood and got some shots with the good morning light.
Enough lollygagging, time to start the hike …
As usual, Lisa was ahead of me …
… a wider shot to give a better perspective.
Lisa was already glistening and we were just getting started.
This tree was seeking the sun.
And Lisa pressed on …
… pausing to take in the vista.
We reached the Seven Sacred Pools, which surprisingly had some water in them! Lisa scurried around and found a couple of spots to get some interesting shots.
Our next part of the hike provided us some much needed shade with the temperature quickly getting into the mid nineties.
A quick pause for a portrait …
… and back to the mission at hand.
We finally reached “the plateau”, which - while relatively flat - didn’t provide us any relief from the scorching sun.
We then approached the most challenging segment of the hike. There was some serious elevation gain over a relatively short distance. A group of about 6 of us tackled it together and somehow Lisa was elected to lead us. Although another lady was hot on her tail.
Lisa got her heart rate over 160 bpm and decided that we all needed a quick break.
We were very close at this point. You can see the entrance to the caves in the distance. Hey - careful there Lisa!
We paused to get some shots and our hiking partners moved ahead of us to the entrance to the cave.
Lisa went first and this final scramble was not for the feint of heart.
She made it!
Success!
I quickly followed. OK, maybe not so quickly. But when I got there, I was happy to take a break and get some shots.
I scrambled to the opening above the arch and took it all in. Lisa captured my favorite shot.
Back in the cave, Lisa was contemplating her next move.
And I captured the dangerous terrain that we were navigating.
Lisa might look calm, but we know the truth.
But, dang, she climbed right to the very edge. Like a cat!
Before descending, I did one last scramble to the entrance to another cave. Lisa captured it brilliantly and we safely descended from another breathtaking location.
