Running—especially trail running—is a big part of our lives and we try to run in interesting places. That could be running up mountains, alongside streams, through forests, and in canyons. And I try to take a camera with me when we run. As a minimum, the camera will be a phone but I prefer to take along my Sony RX100 V, a small camera with a 24-70mm zoom lens. The camera is actually smaller than my phone (smaller length x width, but thicker) so it fits well in my water bottle waist pack.
Here is a collection of photographs taken on the trails we have run this spring in northern Arizona.
The rising sun illuminates the red rocks of Sedona as we prepare to start the run.Sometimes Dry Creek has water.A great swimming hole at the turn around point on Wet Beaver Creek.Group run through Carroll Canyon.Spring blossoms along the Elden Springs Trail.Overhanging rock on Hardline Trail.Blooming agave plant on Hangover Trail.Spring-fed ponds along the Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail.Sycamore Canyon Rim Trail overlook.Cluster of oak trees on Apollo Trail in the Mount Elden Dry Lakes (MEDL) trail system.View of the San Francisco Peaks on the high point of Space Walk Trail, a part of the MEDL system.Tree with carved bench at the top of Space Walk Trail.Rock art along a trail in the Red Rock—Secret Mountain Wilderness.Rocky Mountain Iris along the Arizona Trail.Picturesque stand of aspen along the Arizona Trail.Running on the Oldham Trail at the base of Mount Elden.
It’s not just about the running—it’s also about the beautiful places running can take us.
Snow in April! Actually, it isn’t rare for snow in April in Flagstaff. In fact, it is more likely that there is snow in April than no snow. Over the course of record for Flagstaff (1898–2025), there has been measurable snow in 107 of those years. Only 21 years had no snow or only a Trace of snow.
The snowfall this April, however, has been well above average. To date, there has been 13.5″ of snow (average for the entire month is 7.3″), falling in two events: April 2–3 (4.3″) and April 18–19 (9.0″).
This is good news as we had a dry winter. Our snow season total (July 1–present) stands at 60.3″ compared to an average of 87.6″. It is unlikely that we will catch up to normal as the chances for significant snow decrease rapidly going forward. However, this late influx of moisture (both March and April) has been good in bringing the fire danger down to LOW across the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests.
Here are some photographs from both of these events.
Layers of clouds are draped across the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the wake of a winter storm (04 April 2025).The rising sun illuminates clouds draped across Mormon Mountain in northern Arizona in the wake of a winter storm (04 April 2025).
Time-lapse video of clouds over the San Francisco Peaks and Mormon Mountain in northern Arizona.
Streamers of fog and low clouds move below the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona (19 April 2025).Streamers of fog and low clouds move below the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona (19 April 2025).Fog and low clouds move below the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona (19 April 2025).Fog and low clouds drape across the red rock spires of Sedona, Arizona (19 April 2025).The rising Sun illuminates mist and fog swirling around the red rocks of the Munds Mountain Wilderness (19 April 2025).Mist and fog swirls around the red rock cliffs and is reflected in a small pool in Munds Mountain Wilderness (19 April 2025).The setup for the previous photograph.Dewdrops adorn this small lupine in Sedona (19 April 2025).Snow adorns the blossoms of this flowering fruit tree in Flagstaff (19 April 2025).Snow on a flowering forsythia bush in Flagstaff (18 April 2025).Snow on a flowering crab apple tree (18 April 2025).Snow and daffodil, Flagstaff (18 April 2025).Snow in the upper reaches of Oak Creek Canyon with the switchbacks of SR-89A below.
As noted in the previous post we had a lot of snow in Flagstaff during the first half of March. That meant if we wanted to do any trail running it had to be elsewhere. And, of course, that means Sedona.
On 22 March the group run was Hangover Trail loop (Munds Wagon Trail, Hangover Trail, Cow Pies Trail).
A brief respite from the near-continuous climbing on the Hangover Trail in Sedona, Arizona.An expansive view of the Red Rocks of Sedona near the intersection of the Cow Pies and Hangover Trails.
The run up Wet Beaver Creek on 29 March was the final Sedona run of the season; we return to running in Flagstaff now that the snow is gone (well, it could return).
This is the turnaround spot on the Wet Beaver Creek Trail. Weather permitting, a few runners make the plunge into the deep pool.A narrow ledge on a steep sandstone cliff along the Wet Beaver Creek trail.
Back in mid-February we did a trail run in Sedona using a combination of both designated and social trails. Early in the run we crossed these beautiful carved channels in the sandstone bed of Dry Creek. It had been a dry winter up until that point so there was no running water but still enough for a few pools that included reflections of the blue sky.
Channels carved into the sandstone of Dry Creek, Sedona, AZ.This is a composite of two photos. We each took a photo of the other then combined them. It works…
Farther along we passed this small reflecting pool. Since there were only the two of us the best we could do was to each take a photograph of the other running past the pool. A little bit of work in a photo app composited the two images and it looks like a real photograph!
A sea of fog surrounds Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona.
It’s been a quiet winter with very few storms so when we finally got a storm I wanted to try and get some morning sunrise fog shots. I awoke early to check radar and satellite data. I was both surprised and disappointed that my favorite locations appeared to be cloud and fog free. On the other hand, satellite data showed an extensive area of fog and low clouds near Sedona and into the Verde Valley. I quickly headed down Oak Creek Canyon to a location in Sedona that has a great view for these types of events.
A wide-angle shot with Cathedral Rock in the distance. A few minutes later the fog surged northward.Fog begins to wrap around red rock buttresses in Sedona.
At first the fog was fairly distant to the south and visibility was very good in all directions. I was able to see Cathedral Rock poking through the fog. But over the next few minutes the fog surged northward and soon I was in the thick of it with low visibility.
Fog and mist partially obscure the red rock buttresses in Sedona, Arizona.A zoomed-in shot of the fog obscuring the red rock in Sedona, Arizona.
I headed to another viewpoint hoping there would be some sun shining through the fog. For a few minutes it did. And then the fog thickened again.
Overall I was pretty happy with the fog and photo session–especially since I haven’t had many chances this winter. And the weather forecast looks warm and dry. Boring.
