Five-Star Trails: Flagstaff and Sedona: Your Guide to the Area's Most Beautiful Hikes

Description

Five-Star Trails: Flagstaff & Sedona is a handy, concise, and inspiring guidebook that presents the very best hiking experiences in and around Sedona and Flagstaff. Each hike features an individual trail map, elevation profile, and at-a-glance information, helping readers quickly find the perfect trip. Sized to fit in a pocket, the book's detailed trail descriptions will help readers find their way on and off the trail. The title, Five-Star, does not denote a rating system, but signifies that the choice of trails and creation of hiking routes is truly outstanding and far superior to those regurgitated in ordinary guidebooks. Superior not only in quality of experience but variety of quality experiences: low desert to high peaks, staggering open vistas to claustrophobic canyons, easy to all day, lonely prairies to popular swimming holes, walking distance from the visitor center to an hour's drive from anywhere. Author Tony Padegimas introduces readers to discoveries, surprises, and imaginative ways to explore the geographic area that is, virtually, their backyard.

Tony Padegimas is, among many other things, a freelance writer who spends as much time as possible in his hammock slung in some random part of a national forest. His wife, two children, and two dogs join him on occasion but report mixed feelings about whether these endeavors are really worthwhile. The cats have no doubts: They prefer to remain at home in Phoenix. In addition to his wanderings in the wilderness, Padegimas chronicles sports, fitness, historical curiosities, technical theater (his day job), the inside guts of buildings, and other random topics by assignment. From time to time, he writes over-the-top space opera and other strange fiction. His work has appeared in numerous local and regional magazines and in a handful of national publications. This is his second book for Menasha Ridge Press: Five-Star Trails: Flagstaff & Sedona follows Day & Overnight Hikes: Tonto National Forest, published in 2008.