One advantage of family and friends staying with us for vacation is revisiting old stomping grounds like West Fork Trail, Oak Creek, just outside of Sedona. It’s very popular, so if you don’t go first thing in the morning, you have to share the trail with hundreds of others. I nudged everyone out the door at 6:45 a.m. to get a spot in the parking lot before hearing the “call of the canyon.” 

Ah, speaking of Zane Grey, The Call of the Canyon was one of his many books that had a film version from the silent era. During the creative process, it was this entrance into the canyon Zane Grey was thinking about. In fact, celebrities like Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart stayed at the Mayhew Lodge when filming in the area before it collapsed in to ruin leaving only remnants of its structure. Here are a few morning shots: