I’ve hiked Sedona before. One of my favorite spots before a
damaging flood in September 2009 was Red Rocks State Park,
where a short hike along Oak Creek would deliver me to a field of impossibly
balanced stone towers constructed with magnetically charged rocks and pebbles.
It was magic. The last time I was there, those rock towers had been swept away
by the flood but I could see that the Park’s many visitors were beginning the
slow process of rebuilding the hundreds of cairns, returning the field once
more into a place that could easily cause the child in you to envision tiny mystical
people. Magic reborn.
If it weren’t for Sedona’s magnetic rock, Sedona might still
be here but it wouldn’t be Sedona. The
red in the rock is its higher than average iron content, which not only causes
the rock to be magnetic (hence the small rock towers everywhere) but is also
purported to be able to effect brainwave EEGs (Sedona Anomalies). These
electric anomalies, called vortexes where they are most strongly felt, are said
to have healing properties and provide the perfect environment for meditation.Although I experience the magnetism in the rock and my inner child enjoys building stone towers, I can’t honestly say I have ever felt a vortex. I meditate, and sometimes even well, but even though several of my friends have ‘felt the charge’, I never have. I sit quietly, in muktasana (seated posture) with my hands in chin mudra (index and thumb joined in a circle on my knees with palms up) and wait for the charge, and wait, and wait and then……..nada. My monkey mind keeps asking all sorts of questions – how does this work, exactly? I wonder if I am an upflow or an inflow vortex person (if you clicked on the link above you would know what that was already). Are my palms really feeling warmer? That bird song is nice – wonder which bird it is. I’m feeling like Indian food. Where is good Indian food around here?
To the point, if you are in Sedona, you should visit a vortex. Period. Even if, like me, you wind up only feeling the wind on your face and keeping your monkey mind busy. It’s a thing. Like going to New York City and visiting Lady Liberty. And on this trip, we could hike AND visit vortexes since some of the most stunning places in Sedona are conveniently vortex sites.
We all have friends that we choose to do different things
with. My usual Sedona friends have been
more the pedi/mani artsy kind. This time I took four of my dedicated hiking
friends with me, staying at Diamond Resorts Sedona
Summit, a lovely property in West Sedona on 89A at the intersection with
the Red Rock Loop Road to Red Rocks State Park.
Sometimes you just have to call out the experts. The two friends who I drove up with and I were intent on
starting our Sedona sojourn by taking a short hike before we settled in to our
suite. The greater Sedona area has an excellent web of hiking trailheads
leading from its main and side roads, including the in-town trails where the Coconino
Forest sneaks right onto 89A west at the Adobe Jack Trailhead, just a short
distance from the “Y”. (The Y is the major intersection between West and North
89a and Highway 179.)
This is where my
friends and I started our hiking vacation with a pleasant hour hiking the loop
around the Adobe Jack, Coyote and Crusty Trails in a light sprinkle. It was
lovely. These women would gladly exchange a little moisture to spot an unusual
flower, bush, rock formation or animal along the trail. I think I’m in love
with them.
The next day, joined by two more hiking buddies, the group decided
to hike in Dry Creek Basin, which is an absolute hiker’s heaven just beyond the
edges of West Sedona. We missed the unpaved road to the Devil’s Bridge Trailhead
but found ourselves a few miles further along on the paved Long Canyon Road
which had an actual paved parking lot and trailhead to the Bridge. Missing the
unpaved road probably put a couple miles or so onto our hike but if a
destination is too close, this group doesn’t feel like we’ve been anywhere. Yes, I definitely think I’m in love with them.
Devil’s Bridge is a very popular hiking destination in
Sedona and rightfully so. The hike from the jeep trail is a little less than a
mile and as you approach, you have to climb up to the Bridge but the path is
well marked and in good condition. The
Bridge itself is large enough and wide enough for mothers to feel safe about
letting their kids jump or balance on one foot for family photo ops. Not this
mother you understand but I did witness this. We spent an agreeable half hour
before retracing our steps to Long Canyon Road.
Our original idea was to drive up the unpaved road after visiting the Bridge to a
place delightfully called Secret Canyon. Its secrets are still secret since we
determined that the unpaved road was a bit too bumpy and the time it would take to slowly drive the rest of the way over that rocky road we deemed would take too much time from other planned hikes. We
turned our attentions to Fay Canyon and the promise of another arch and the crème
de la crème of hiking attractions - a set of ruins. We like ruins; we like to
poke around and take pictures of ourselves through tiny rock windows or peeking
over rock walls.
We spotted the arch up and along the walls of the canyon but since one of our party was in the
middle of a family crisis, we chose to avoid long or difficult hikes up the
steep hill to get to it, staying closer to actual phone service. We followed the lush and beautiful Fay Canyon Trail
back to where an enormous rock fall had closed off the rest of the canyon.
Though we did not proceed around the rock fall, a few of us bouldered
up the rocks to see if it was possible. Fay Canyon is very, very lush and from
the top of the rock fall I was able to take gorgeous pictures that put me
nostalgic about old Tarzan movies. I wanted to be Jane. Not that I
lusted over Johnny
Weissmuller. My lust was more primal – I have always liked real estate and I
wanted his treehouse. The canyon past the rock fall is now on our list of
places to go because most likely we would find very few people there. Solitude
is seriously attractive to avid hikers and backpackers.
Later that evening we visited Tlaquepaque, a gorgeous shopping
and dining area near the Y. We wanted to stop in at the Oak Creek Brewery restaurant
but it was chockablock full. I’m fonder of tap rooms than crowded busy restaurants
and got the directions to Oak
Creek’s small pub and tap room in an ‘industrial’ area of Sedona behind
West Sedona’s main drag. While the others sampled the tasty food, my friend
Melissa and I shared a generous sampling tray (10 2-oz glasses) of microbrews. We liked the Amber Ale and I think I liked the King Crimson a lot (it was
one of the last of the 10 we tried and I’m a little fuzzy on the details). The
tap room is very basic but has an excellent outdoor patio which is very
relaxing and surprisingly quiet. It appears to offer live music during the evening, too.The next day was Easter Sunday and three of us awoke at an ungodly hour to attend services at the church we thought might have the best view. (I know, kind of self-serving and I would apologize but the picture I took across the altar to the gorgeous morning sun on the red Rocks east of Sedona got over 30 Facebook ‘likes’. ) After some breakfast back at the resort, we all hiked the very urban and doable 3.6-mile Airport Loop Trail which is called that because it circumnavigates the Sedona Airport. The Airport sits atop Airport Mesa (which makes me wonder what the mesa was called before it became an airport – but then again, maybe the ETs who were attracted to the vortexes made it their landing zone as well). Actually this is a pretty satisfying hike with 360 degree views of Sedona if it’s not summer (not much shade) and you have never really been to Sedona.
While we were on top of the Mesa, we stopped at the Airport Vortex, a rather disappointing affair near the Masonic Lodge Memorial Cross but with terrific views to the north and west. Of course I tried meditating to see if I could be one with all things vortex and of course I failed. All that meditating did, however, cause me a great thirst which we satisfied at the 3-year-old Mesa Grill quite close to the actual airport runway. It felt, well, swanky being so close to the airplanes flying in and out of sexy little Sedona.
After two of our group left for Tucson, three of us returned
to Fay Canyon to find the ruins which Melissa had discovered are right
underneath the arch (the internet is so wonderful). We hiked back to the rocky scree-filled route to the arch, entranced by the delicate play of sunshine and
shade on the arch. We stayed around to play around under the arch and in the
ruins trying to figure out how the Mother made the arch and when, why and how her
human species took up residence there.
Finally, heading back to the car, not really ready to call
it quits for the day, we decided to hike one more trail. (I swear the Dry Creek Area is like a smorgasbord - you just have to have one more.) The parking lot to Fay
is shared by a series of interconnecting trails, including the Aerie Trail.
Aerie is aptly named because after wandering through the flats, it climbs
slowly to traverse a ridgeline from which we could see stunning views of the
rocks and sweeping views of Dry Creek Basin as the sun set behind us, relaxing
on comfortably large rocks to watch the red rocks glow in the fading light.
The next morning, even after three days of hiking, we were reluctant to just
drive home. Each way out of Sedona heads right through more abundant hiking
opportunities. We exited Sedona via Hwy 179, stopping to hike the
4.3-mile Courthouse Butte Loop Trail. At the base of prominent Courthouse Butte,
the trail is relatively flat and offers a lot of interesting washes and rock
features which beg to be photographed. Be warned, however, the heat bouncing off
the red rock can be brutal in the summer. Even in April we could feel the heat.
The Butte is also a vortex site and whether you are a vortex devotee or a
hiker, Courthouse Butte can deliver.
I can now attest that whether you are craving adventure or relaxation,
Sedona is a good place to look. No matter if you have a few days or a few
weeks, it’s worth your time to sample seductive Sedona.
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