Trip report
Dec 16, 2017 — This popular Sedona loop has some delightful views along Brins Mesa, and avery cool series of arches, the Soldier Pass "Caves", as they're locally known. Getting a parking spot at the Soldier Pass Trailhead is really difficult, but since that's where I started, it's how I'm writing my trip report. If you're doing the whole loop, I recommend you park here instead at the Jordan Road Trailhead (34.88787, -111.76842).
I headed along the Soldier Pass Trail past the Devil's Kitchen (a sinkhole) and Seven Sacred Pools, looking out for Soldier Pass Arch on the cliffs to the right. Apparently there is a way to get to the arches from the bottom, but my route was from the top. I included both approaches on my attached map. The official trail is really nice and I recommend it if you have the time to do the whole loop and you're not just set on seeing the "caves". I continued to Solider Pass and then took the Brins Mesa Trail, where a social trail leaves the main trail to head toward the top of the Solider Pass Caves, but the trail gets less and less obvious. There's a Class 2 scramble that leads from the top of the arch to the bottom, so hypothetically you could use the ledge system as a way to get down the otherwise sheer cliffs and back to the trailhead from here, rather than continuing back to the trail. Anyway, after checking out these cool arches, I headed back to the Brins Mesa Trail and continued along it until just before it began descending to the Jordan Road Trailhead. Here, I located a social trail on the right and ascended toward Brins Butte. I will note that there are many options for getting up, most involving at least a tiny bit of bushwhacking, but there are enough possible social trails that it shouldn't be unpleasant. I had to scramble up a couple of Class 2 blocks to reach the ridgeline, and then I ascended to the summit of the peak.
Once off Brins Butte, I continued down the Brins Mesa Trail to the Jordan Road Trailhead and took the Cibola Pass Trail, which turns into the Jordan Trail to complete the loop.