An Easy Day Around Flagstaff | Thursday, April 10, 2025
After spending the last five days on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon and then hiking out via the Bright Angel Trail yesterday, it was time for a rest day out of the record heat that had arrived in the southwest. When I first booked this river trip I had originally planned to drive home today so we could get back to work on Friday, but earlier this year I managed to get us signed up for another Crack-In-Rock Pueblo hike at Wupatki National Monument on Saturday, so we needed to stick around Flagstaff for a couple more days instead. Although we mainly wanted to rest and relax today, we had a few hours in the afternoon while we were between check-out and check-in times at different hotels, so we headed out on a few easy local hikes to pass the time.
First up, we returned to Walnut Canyon National Monument so I could finish hiking all the trails in the park. On our previous visit we had only hiked the Island Trail, so this time I wanted to make sure I hiked the Rim Trail.
Diane wasn’t feeling like hiking much today, so she walked with me to this mesa-top pueblo and then returned to the car while I hiked the Rim Trail.
The Walnut Canyon Overlook at the end of the Rim Trail.
Following the Rim Trail back to the Visitor Center.
The hike on the Rim Trail was pretty short and easy, so I decided to hike the Island Trail, too.
Walnut Canyon Ruins
Island Trail
Ruins Across the Canyon
Walnut Canyon
Headed back up the stairs to the Visitor Center.
We still had some time to kill after leaving Walnut Canyon National Monument, so we headed west on Old Route 66 past Parks so we could hike to the petroglyphs found at Keyhole Sink in the Kaibab National Forest.
This nice wooden sign was near the beginning of the short trail.
Keyhole Sink Trail
Keyhole Sink
Keyhole Sink Petroglyphs
We passed by this smoke-stained rock shelter as we searched the walls for petroglyphs.
Another view of the Keyhole Sink.
Lichen and faint petroglyphs.
Look for a petroglyph of a frog on this wall.
These faded petroglyphs match the ones found on the wooden sign shown above.
We passed by this horned lizard on our way back to the trailhead.
After finishing the hike we returned to Flagstaff, checked into our new hotel and then spent the rest of the day relaxing out of the heat.