West Fork Hiking Trail in Sedona

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My dear ol’ friend, hiking buddy and partner-in-food-crime, Ashley, put on her big girl pants and headed off to graduate school recently. Let me first say, I’m so proud of her for following her dreams but let me also say, I’m pretty sad that she abandoned me before we finished our Arizona Bucket List. So for her last weekend in town we decided to have one last hurrah and go for a big hike. Her one request: something with water. Water? In the desert? So we headed up north to Sedona to tackle one of the pins that had sat untouched on our “Arizona Adventures” board for too long: West Fork Trail.

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Well, we wanted water, and let me tell you, we got water. Despite the fact that this trail twists back and forth along Oak Creek (you cross 13 times before the end of the trail—it’s mostly stone-stepping, but in a few places you have to step through shallow water), it also happened to be raining that day. And I’m not talking about a few spits of water here and there, I’m talking four hours of pouring rain. There were a couple breaks just long enough to sit on our jackets to enjoy a PB&J, but beyond that, soaking wet. The fleece jacket I was wearing got so wet, it looked like I was hiking in a leather bomber.

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We took our time on the way into this 7-mile out-and-back trail while the rain was light so we could get lots of pictures and enjoy the scenery. (It’s crazy how a two-hour drive north can yield a totally different environment. This hike is full of big and tall trees, plenty of pines, a flowing creek with mini falls and rapids, colorful wildflowers and tons of towering red rock. It was absolutely gorgeous, and with the rain it obviously smelled so fresh and outdoorsy. I honestly felt like I was in Colorado.) However, on our way out it was pouring and we were practically sprinting out of there. As in, I think we actually hiked out in about half the time it took us to hike in.

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The hike starts at Call of the Canyon recreation area, you do have to pay $10 to park, but it’s worth it. The other cool thing about this particular trail is the first little half mile to a mile to actually get to the West Fork Trail from Call of the Canyon is a paved path that winds through the ruins of Mayhew Lodge. It was originally a private resort that ended up functioning as a sort of high-profile retreat camp from what I could gather from the descriptive sign, but a fire took to the place to the ground (except for what’s still there today—a fireplace, a few storage coves and one other gutted building). Eventually the state bought it but never had enough funding to rebuild. Something about the eeriness of all that intrigues me (apparently someone was mauled to death by a bear here too I think? I don’t know, there is a book about it), so it was a fun added bonus to what was otherwise a fairly easy, but totally worth it, completely beautiful hike.

More information about this hike here!

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Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Tacos

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I’m sure you’ve heard this from several people before, and maybe you even say it yourself, but cooking is like therapy for me. When I have a really bad day at work, I get really creative in the kitchen. I get home, turn on the tunes, pour some wine and mix together whatever is left in the fridge in a delicious harmony that is probably a one-pot meal (because I don’t find doing dishes nearly as therapeutic).

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Now take that awesomely happy kitchen experience, multiply the happy feelings by ten and you have my (obligation-free) Saturday and Sunday mornings. Weekend mornings are my ultimate happy place—especially when they include homemade breakfast AND a hike. But this is about breakfast. Ever since I started working full time, I’ve completely lost the ability to sleep in. And while it’s the worst and I’m tired and I hate getting up, I’ve actually really been enjoying these morning. I fire up my favorite Pandora station (I’ve spent five years making it the greatest station in the world, thank you) and cook up something absolutely delicious to eat alongside my coffee, tea or both while soaking in that oh so beautiful soft light streaming in through the screen door. Perfection.

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So on one of these mornings that I love so much, I decided it was high time for me to combine two of my loves: Unplanned weekend morning and, yep, you guessed it, tacos. Well that and I still had leftover ingredients from those Mahi Mahi Tacos and Chipotle Burgers (I never buy red onions. What do you do with red onion?). I’ve mentioned before that I used to hate eggs and now I’ve become a little egg obsessed. Especially since I started eating dippy eggs (read: fried, over easy, poached, any way that leaves the yolk runny). So putting dippy eggs into soft corn tortillas topped with all my favorite taco toppings and calling it breakfast? Hi. I’m sold.

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Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Tacos
Author: 
Serves: 1
 
Ingredients
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 soft corn tortillas
  • ¼ cup shredded red cabbage
  • 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • Optional: lime wedges, salsa, cotija cheese, crema, etc.
Instructions
  1. Heat the butter in a small frying pan over medium high heat. Once melted, crack the eggs in the pan and let cook until the edges are slightly crispy and the white is fully cooked. (You could also cook the eggs anyway you want—over easy, poached—just go for that runny yolk, you won't regret it!)
  2. Meanwhile, warm the tortillas (I just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds). Stack two on top of each other (since the yolk will be runny you need to double them up to prevent them from falling apart) and distribute the cabbage between the two stacks.
  3. Place the eggs on top of the tortillas and cabbage and then top with the onion, cilantro and any other desired toppings.
  4. Dig in and don't forget to sop the yolk as you go!

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Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Chipotle Burgers

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I had a dream that I was writing this post while sitting in stand-still rush hour traffic. Which, I have to admit sounds way better, or rather more productive, than what I’m usually doing during stand-still rush hour traffic: Eating string cheese and dancing to radio top charters. Regardless, this is dangerous. Like, if texting and driving is dangerous and deadly, blogging and driving is twice as bad, at least. So since I subconsciously thought that this was acceptable behavior, I thought I’d take this moment to let you all know that it is not. Public service announcement: Don’t blog and drive.

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But burgers, though. You guys, on Sunday I went on the hardest hike I’ve ever done. It was a shorter trail than many I’ve done (something like 2.6 miles each way), but it was the most vertical hike I’ve done. As in we climbed 2,300ish ft, half of which were in the last less than a mile of trail. It was rough. It took way longer than I thought it would, utilized every muscle in my body and has me limping despite my best efforts still two days later. It was completely worth it though, and I have pictures to prove it coming oh so soon.

Any way, after I got down from this hike that pretty much ended in a run because all I wanted to do was sit, lay or assume any position that required little to no work. It took everything I had in me not to pull off the highway on the way home for burgers and fries. It’s all I could think about other than an ice bath. Just greasy, overfilling goodness to restore any energy back to my body. But alas, what’s a fast food burger when you can whip up this more delicious (and healthier) beauty right at home!

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With the warmer weather rolling in (death weather here in the valley) it’s time to move the heat out of the house and to the grill. I’m thinking these would be perfect for a Memorial Day weekend grill out. And as I do with most of my meals, I found a way to sneak in lots of veggies with loads of flavor. Flavorful veggies packed inside the burger itself (less messy than topping everything on top, just to take one bite and losing all those flavor bits to your plate below) and then smothered it with more flavor and more veggies (hello, chipotle lime crema from Mahi Mahi Tacos. It’s good to see you again).

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Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Chipotle Burgers
Author: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • ½ pound ground beef
  • ¼ cup chopped red pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped red onion
  • 1 ounce goat cheese, crumbled
  • ¼ teaspoon seas salt
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 chipotle pepper
  • ¼ cup crema (or sour cream or mayo)
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • 1 cup arugula
  • 2 hamburger buns
Instructions
  1. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the ground beef, red pepper, onion, goat cheese, salt and garlic until evenly combined. Form two patties and cook to desired doneness on grill/grill pan.
  3. While the burgers cook, combine the pepper, crema and lime juice in a mini chopper, food processor or blender until smooth.
  4. Place the patties on hamburger buns than top with the chipotle crema and ½ cup arugula, each.

You may have noticed this recipe shares a lot of ingredients with the Mahi Mahi Tacos. I like to make them in the same week to use up all those ingredients and eliminating waste without making a lot of the same thing. It’s the perfect solution for the ongoing problem of grocery shopping for one!

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