Wilson Mountain

"This came together pretty quick! On Friday, I decided to take Money off for a long weekend. On Sunday morning's hike, I asked Ken if he was free on Monday for a hike. He said, "How about a hike in Sedona?" Ummm...YES! Ken called to reserve the plane from the mountaintop and the plan was set into motion. Jessica, who was also on Sunday's hike, took the day off as well to join us. I got home and found a suitable hike - Wilson Mountain. At 7am, we met at Henderson Executive Airport and Ken flew us to Sedona in a small 4-seater. We had brunch and übered to the trailhead. We started the hike around noon, following the Wilson Mountain Trail from Midgley Bridge. In order, we hit First Bench, Peak 7045, Sedona Viewpoint, Wilson Mountain, Peak 7076 and North Viewpoint. There was some snow above First Bench and TONS of mud along the top of the mountain, all the way to the North Viewpoint. This was a bit ambitious for a last-minute hike started at noon! We made it within 2/3 of a mile from the trailhead before we had to get out the headlamps. There just wasn't enough ambient light to keep going without them. After the hike, we had some Mexican food, then flew back to Las Vegas..." — Kevin • Jan 28, 2019

"How do I even describe this amazing day? Kevin took a day off work and wanted to go hiking. While we were up on Bobcat Rock the day before (Sunday 1/27), Ken offered to fly Kevin to Sedona and do a hike there. That's about when I piped up, jumping up and down and waving my arms and going "I CAN TAKE THE DAY OFF TOOOOOO!" Thankfully and amazingly, Ken is a wonderfully kind human being and allowed me to tag along for the whirlwind trip to Sedona. We left Las Vegas from the Henderson Executive Airport around 8 AM, landed in Sedona, had brunch, rode to the trailhead, and started up Wilson Mountain around noon local time. Considering that Kevin and I already had around 25 miles on our internal odometers from the weekend, we went up the mountain pretty darn fast. (Well, I thought so. Kevin was fine. I'm not superhuman, so I was tired.) The trail was dry and clear up to the First Bench. From there, it began to get wet and muddy - snowmelt left water, snow, and even a bit of ice on the trail. Once up on the plateau, we headed South first. We "summitted" Peak 7045' first, then went to the Sedona Overlook (south overlook) for lunch. The view was so breathtaking we didn't want to leave. From ..." — psychikingjes • Jan 28, 2019

"Had the hike pretty much to myself. Ran into a small group after I'd been at the summit for a while who heard me hooting & hollering earlier. Had spent enough time there and wanted to spend time on the subordinatne (first bench) summit anyway, so left and only saw one other person the whole hike. Glad I made it down to the subordinate summit--the view was more than I could describe. Fiery red rocks among green and red canyons. Peace around me and a thunderstorm to finish. I accepted my body, my old life, my pre-ED life, my nerdiness, my tomboyishness here. It came to me as I let teh rain do what it would. " — ionahraqs • Aug 17, 2018

"Rich and I made a day trip to Sedona to hike Wilson Mountain. It was a cool, breezy day which made for nice hiking. I summitted the true summit which required some off trail bush wacking and class 2 scrambling. Rich waited for me at a junction 10 minutes below." — darinwilson • May 29, 2016

"Hiking trip with my soon to be girlfriend up to the Wilson Bench via Trail 123 and then on to the top. When we got to the top we took a left and after a hike of about a mile or so, we came to the southern end of Wilson Mountain with a great view of Wilson canyon, the Midgley Bridge and Sedona. We then backtracked, passing the trail down and hiked for another mile or so to the north end of Wilson Mountain, with views of Sterling Pass and the Vultee Arch way below. We then hiked back to the trail down to the bench and then headed down the trail to the Wilson Canyon trailhead, by the bridge. One of the longest hikes I've done in quite a while." — lawrencebaker • Oct 26, 2014

"My last summit in Arizona before moving to Colorado. Summited it 11 days before I moved. Hiked to the actual Peak. Did this mountain sometime in the '90's and reached the 7,045 foot sub peak on the south side of the mesa. " — MtnGeek • May 4, 2004