Devil’s Bridge Hike
This was our first hike in Sedona. We actually stayed in Flagstaff because the rates were cheaper, but we didn’t mind getting up early and doing 30-40 mins worth of driving either, so it worked out. We woke up around 4am, ate some breakfast and headed into Sedona before sunrise. A general rule of thumb is that people don’t like to get up extremely early, so we took advantage of that as well as the cooler temperatures! The cool thing about Sedona is that all the hiking surrounds the town, so you don’t have to drive very far to be in the middle of nowhere, fast. To access the Devil’s Bridge trail head, just find Dry Creek Road on your favorite mapping tool. You’ll come to a pull off a few miles down the road that looks like a dirt road on your right. It is indeed a dirt road, and a bumpy one at that. Yes, an SUV will cost a bit more to rent – but I highly recommend driving something with high clearance (unlike we did). Just take my word for it because we walked down that same dirt road an extra mile before we hit the trail due to me trying to save money by driving a Ford Focus (yikes). Anyway, follow the dirt road for nearly a mile and you’ll see a parking area and a sign that says “Devil’s Bridge”. Expect an uphill hike for nearly a mile. About 3/4 mi into the hike, there is a split where you can go below Devil’s Bridge or above it. I recommend doing both just so you can get an idea of the size of the arch. The hike back down is very easy and you can expect to sink about 2 hours round trip, maybe more if you wanna explore a bit more. It’s a great hike with a big pay off.

Honanki Ruins
If you did the Devil’s Bridge hike in the morning, pack a lunch and stay on Dry Creek Road and head down to the Honanki Ruins site. It’s a very cool ruin site that dates back to around 1300 AD. The walls the indians built along with rock art are still able to be seen. You will drive about 6-7 miles on a dirt road, though it’s not as rough as the one leading to Devil’s Bridge, you should probably still consider driving an SUV or truck. Honanki is one of the two ruin sites in the Sedona area and from what I’ve read, the least crowded. Once you arrive at the visitor’s center you’ll be asked to sign in. There’s a looped path that carries you under the butte where the indian ruins are located. It’s quite shaded, so it’s nice if you are doing this in the afternoon because of how hot the weather can get in Sedona. This is my first time seeing any sort of rock art or petroglyphs so it was a neat experience and best of all, it’s free!

Cathedral Rock Hike
This was probably my favorite hike in Sedona. You’ve probably seen this structure all over magazines, tv and even in the movies. Cathedral Rock is really the center piece of Sedona and what most people associate with it. It’s located off Back O’Beyond Road – again, just pull up Google Maps to find it – it’s very easy. You can expect this hike to be a bit more crowded just because the road is paved to the parking area. It’s much more accessible, but in my opinion a much more difficult hike than Devil’s Bridge. Once again, we arrived before the sun came up so we could beat the crowds and see the sun come up over Sedona. At first the trail starts out with a bit of an uphill incline about 1/4 mi into the hike. You will see quickly you will start somewhat of a rock climb near the middle of the hike up. Grippy shoes with ankle support should be worn for this. One slip on those rocks and you’ll leave some DNA behind. If you are new to hiking, it’s considered a strenuous one by park standards. If I can do it, most anyone can though and it’s well worth the few nail biting scenarios on the way up. The hike less than two miles round trip. Once you reach the top, you’ll be staggered by the beauty.

Other Attractions
We did manage to do another hike that is less frequented called Little Horse Trail – which leads to a rock called Chicken Point. It’s a very hot hike in the afternoon, so pack lots of water because there’s little to no shade on the trail. You can also access Chicken Point by taking one of the gazillion jeep tours in the area. If you have the extra time, it’s probably worth it to do the tour just to get all the history and get down on some roads that aren’t accessible by a Ford Focus haha. There are tons of hiking trails to other random vistas, but we felt with the time we had, the ones we did were the best payoff for us and didn’t leave us feeling rushed.

We didn’t get a chance to check out any of the local restaurants in the area, but we did stroll through some of the shops. If you have extra time, go downtown and check all that out and support their local vendors. I did purchase my official “Red Dirt Shirt” which is colored directly from the red rocks in the area. Pretty cool huh?

To see more, I’ve posted pictures on my Flickr Photostream and have a Sedona playlist series on my YouTube Channel which will show you first hand our hiking experiences!

Being on the road doing documentaries and going on long hikes – a solar power source comes in handy when you’re low on battery power. The Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panel is one of the many solar products Goal Zero sells. It’s meant to charge portable USB devices such as smart phones, gps devices, mp3 players etc. The solar panel system comes with several adapters that will allow you to charge directly from the panel or you can utilize the Guide 10 Plus battery pack charger. Basically the panel will charge AA or AAA batteries in the Guide 10 Plus, which also boasts a USB/mini USB port for charge your devices later if you need to. You can charge most things in a couple of hours in full sun, which isn’t bad at all.

Check out the video above to get a full rundown of the product or visit GoalZero’s website for all of their products.

Making a solar compass probably isn’t the forefront of people’s minds these days with access to traditional compasses, smart phones and GPS guided navigation. Like most anything else, it seems you never have them when you need them the most. Using an old school method in building your own solar compass can prove to be a life saver. Just using a few sticks, some rocks, the sun and about 30-40 minutes, you can find your bearings. Watch the video above to see how I did it.

Ka bar makes a product-line of blades that are highly field-tested and approved. I got the Ka bar Kukri machete as a gift this past Christmas. I’m sure my family was thinking, “why does he need a machete?”. I’m an advocate for being prepared, whether that means protecting myself or having a great tool when you need it. Not to mention it’s great for chopping weeds or limbs that you can’t seem to reach with an axe or hatchet. This thing is sharp! It has an edge angle of 20 degrees and is made of 1085 carbon steel. The blade is 11.5 inches and from tip to tip it’s 17 inches total and weighs in at nearly 2 pounds. Kukri is the shape of the blade itself. I can’t stress how sharp it is, so be careful if you are experimenting cutting things.

I made a short video above showcasing the Ka bar Kukri machete against a Dr Pepper bottle filled with water. I would imagine I could cut through 10-15 easily. Maybe I’ll try that next!

• Pepper: Alleviates muscle spasms and joint pain
• Willow Bark: Boil to make tea or chew the bark
• Garlic Juice: For pain on your skin or joints
• Onion Juice: Good for stings
• Clover: Helps bites, stings and good for cleansing eyes
• Coca Leaves: Chew these to help alleviate pain
• Coconut Meat, Ash, Mud or Dandelion Paste: Helps reduce pain from bees, scorpions, spiders and centipede stings
• Yams: Reduce fever and muscle spasms

Most of the above remedies need to be broken down into a paste or juice in order to apply them to your body. Some are meant to be consumed as a tea. Do some additional reading to learn how to prepare these remedies. Just knowing what’s available to you in your environment gives you a step in the right direction.

In moon navigation, there are two scenarios to look for around sunset. The moon will already be up at sunset or there will be no moon until around midnight. If the moon comes up at midnight, the side of the moon that is lit, will point east. “One at least to show the east” is a good way to remember it. If the sun and the moon are up at the same time, the bright side of the moon is pointing to the west. Another phrase to help you remember is “two is best to show the west”.

Finding your orientation to a crescent moon will always show you south no matter which side of the moon is lit. Drawing an imaginary line from tip to tip straight down to the horizon will point you south in the northern hemisphere. If you are below the equator, it will point you north.

As a kid I always tried finding The Big Dipper. It was amazing to know that it was in the same place every single night, true north! It’s so easy to locate, even kids like me could do it. It’s also amazing to know that it always points to the North Star or Pole Star. The front side of the ladle of The Big Dipper is what you need to locate. If you extend a straight line on the front of the ladle toward the upper lip of the ladle it will point to the North Star.

Also you will need to find the constellation, Cassiopeia. It is shaped like a “W”. The middle point in the “W” points directly to the North Star. Now that you have two points of reference in finding the North Star, you can find true north and figure out the other directions based on that knowledge. Don’t get the North Star confused with Mars or Venus. They are both very bright, but they will never twinkle since they are not stars.

This method obviously will not work if it’s cloudy, so try to keep some sort of compass in your survival kit! Keep the knowledge of star navigation alive by sharing this with someone.

The hotter the day the better. If it’s really hot outside the water can reach its target temperature in nearly an hour. If it’s somewhat warm outside but not scorching you are looking at nearly half a day for it disinfect the water. On a cooler day, the sun’s intensity and penetration angle aren’t nearly as strong so it could take all day. If the weather is overcast, the water will need to purify for nearly 2 days. With those figures in mind, if you have access to several containers and a good source of water it would benefit you to do multiple instances just so you will have enough drinking water.

Keep in mind this process is not like boiling water that kills all the bacteria for long term storage. The bacteria will build back up if you don’t drink it pretty soon after you sun it. The process isn’t perfect or fast, but it’s much better than doing nothing to purify the water.

For 1 liter of water add 1 drop of 10% strength or 10 drops of 1% strength. Add 5 drops of 10% strength per gallon or 10 drops of 1% strength per gallon. Bleach will not always kill everything but it’s certainly better than using nothing. For a good rule of thumb, a tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water will not hurt you at all, so be generous with the amount you use. Be sure to shake the water and bleach mixture and let it sit for 20-30 minutes after mixing.