There's no trail - Can I find a route to the top? Cockscomb Conundrum

I'm the Rock Hopper and I'm just outside of Sedona, Arizona, and today we're going to see if we can find a route up a rock formation called the Coxcomb that has no trails going up to the top of it. Sedona is a town that long ago sold its soul to the resort and timeshare industry. Four million tourists a year inundate this city of about 11,000 people. It now has an over-tourism problem. Gee, really? Could that be what happens when you advertise a region all over the world? Jeep tours, helicopter tours, ATV rentals, and so on. I call this place Red Rock Disneyland. But no worries. We won't be in town. We're going to be outside of it. The natural beauty that led to the region's excessive exploitation is also the thing that redeems it. Looks like the Coxcomb is 5,009 feet in elevation. There's our first look at the Coxcomb from a distance. To our left is Doe Mountain. There are a few bright spots of colors. Flowers in bloom like this hedgehog cactus along the way. And these little white flowers. I don't think this trail takes us to the top of the Coxcomb. So we'll probably have to find a route. A way in which we can scramble up to the top. Of course, it could be so steep up there that there is no real way up. But if there is a way, we'll find it. Outer limits, huh? Well, Sedona could be described a bit like the Outer Limits. There's a lot of UFO fanatics and other assorted things in Sedona. Let's not forget the people who claim to be from the Pleiades. So you come from a society that has the technology to travel 450 light years to get to Earth, and yet you have trouble changing a car battery? What? But I think we'll stick with the Coxcomb Trail. Plants that characterize this region are predominantly juniper and pinyon trees. They've got prickly pear cactus and yuccas, as well as some catclaw acacia. And there's still some owl's clover peppering the region with color. This looks like a type of mariposa lily. More pretty flowers and pretty colors. I like how the yellow contrasts with the red rock. Nature's colors are beautiful here, as evidenced in these blue agave. These are antlion pits made by the antlion larva. An ant goes to the edge, falls in, struggles to get out. The antlion larva in the bottom of the pit throws sand at the struggling ant, which then falls into its waiting jaws. Ground control to Major Tom. Yeah, I think we'll take ground control. Red on red. Indian paintbrush against the red of the red rocks that's the donut. A lot of these little white flowers around. That's a nice cluster of Indian paintbrush. Prickly pear and juniper. Looking back and seeing Bear Mountain. Here on ground control, we have some cliffs on our left. Some pretty rock formations up ahead. And pretty weather-sculpted rocks behind us as well. I think this flower is penstemon. A nice touch of blue along the trail. This trail appears to be going around the outer edge of the coxcomb. If it doesn't go up soon, I'm gonna go up. Yeah, the trail just goes around the edge. That's Thunder Mountain in the distance. Looks like we're gonna have to find a way up going cross-country. We'll see if there's a way up this thing. We are officially off trail now, even though we're at about 4,800 feet in elevation. There's still plants like this ocotillo growing here, which are more typical of the lower desert. You can see why people like hiking in this region. Fantastic rock formations. I'm at the base of the coxcomb, and I'm starting to wonder if there is any way up it. I can climb up this, but I don't know if it goes anywhere. Let's take this route here. I don't know if it goes up very far or not. Up and up we go. It's a little steep at times, but not too bad. Interesting wind erosion. You can see Sedona off in the distance down there. There's an arch up ahead, like a keyhole through the rock. We're coming up through the keyhole under the arch. It's a bit of a squeeze. Coming up through the other side, and here's my greeter. Look at that slice through the rocks. Through the narrow passage you must go. Looks like this is going to get us to the top after all. We have made it to the top! These swifts are darting around like little mini fighter jets, zooming past at like a hundred miles an hour. Yes, we have made it indeed. But there's more. How on earth are we going to get back down? We're not going the same way. Some say it's lonely at the top, but I say the view is awesome. Well, it used to be. It's almost impossible anymore not to get houses in your shots of the Sedona region. I can't remember all the details, but this was some sort of dirty, somewhat secretive land swap whereby the Forest Service sold off or exchanged land so the developers could come in here and build a whole lot of houses. Once public land is now private property, and you are excluded from it. Like John Denver saying in Rocky Mountain High, more people, more scars upon the land. Should we check it out? Looks to be a route of some sort. Yeah, we'll go that way. Hoping it goes somewhere. Looks like it's starting to become a bit of a better route. I'm thinking this route has got to get us a way out. Looks like we're coming up to an established trail here. So yeah, I think we're off the Cock's Comb. Restoration area behind the sign. That's pretty funny because they're restoring it with housing subdivisions. I hope you enjoyed hiking up to the top of Cock's Comb with me. Click that subscribe button and I'll keep taking you off the beaten path to intriguing places just like this one. Until next time, this is Rock Hopper. I'll see ya!