The Call of the Canyon 

Oak Creek Canyon has been on our radar since 1973. Mr. Carr at Owen Cotter Jewelers in downtown St Petersburg mentioned it as we were planning our honeymoon trip but today was our first visit here. We drove south from Flagstaff planning to enjoy the scenery on the way to Sedona. We didn’t get that far. We stopped at the West Fork Recreation area and hiked back through the ruins of Mayhews Lodge, the old orchard and along the trail that continually crosses Oak Creek. We made it to the sixth of thirteen possible stream crossings, stepping carefully from stone to stone. The canyon’s sheer red cliffs are breathtaking! Apparently this is the setting for Zane Grey’s novel, The Call of the Canyon. Guess we need to add that to our reading list!