Wet Beaver Creak

“The Crack” At Wet Beaver Creak

THE HIKE:

This is a very popular hike in Sedona. If you type “Wet Beaver Creek” into any smart device it will bring you to the trailhead. We got to the trail at 7:00am and had to park in the overflow parking lot. The overflow parking lot is pretty big, but the main parking lot isn’t. I want to start this blog post off by stating that this isn’t an easy hike. Especially when it is 90+ degrees outside. We are avid hikers so we got to the trail in an hour, but for many it will take 2 hours PLUS. If you park at the overflow parking it is longer than 3.5 miles to “The Crack”. A lot of people don’t realize this isn’t an easy trail. We saw so many people wearing flip flops, only having one water bottle, wearing the wrong clothes to hike in, and we even saw someone trying to pull a massive cooler. THIS IS NOT THAT TYPE OF HIKE! This hike is long! Please be prepared when you are hiking in the Arizona heat. This trail as of August 23rd is closed because of the amount of rescues that happen and they can’t keep up. After what I saw I am not surprised. It was scary seeing so many people not being prepared for a hike. I truly believe the outdoors is a place to share with other people, but it is also a privilege. Don’t ruin that privilege!

With that being said the hike itself is worth it. It was absolutely beautiful. However, it was very hot. I wish we went earlier than 7am. There were a lot of people there when we arrived at “The Crack”, but it wasn’t overcrowded. Everyone was nice and let you take turns jumping into the water. We jumped in a few times. I would say it doesn’t look that far from the top, but once you jump it seems a lot farther than it looked. I had a slight panic go through me every time I jumped off. But it was a lot of fun! We went early enough that the rocks weren’t hot so we jumped in barefoot. We stayed maybe an hour and then headed back to the car. We knew it was starting to get even hotter out and we didn’t want to be hiking in the dead of the heat. This is when we saw all of the unprepared people just HEADING to “The Crack”. Don’t be one of these people!!

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Wear proper shoes
• Bring more water than you think you need. MINIMUM 1 gallon per person is the recommendation. And that is if you aren’t planning on staying all day.
• Wear and bring sunblock, sunglasses, and a hat.
• Hike early if you are hiking in the summer.
• Know your limits! This hike isn’t for everyone and that is OK. There are plenty of other hikes you can do.
• If you planning on staying at the water for awhile I would bring snacks.
• PACK OUT YOUR TRASH. Please don’t leave your trash!