We "get" Sedona.....

 In the first blog entry for this trip, I wrote that we "escaped" from Las Vegas as soon as we could, and that I just did not understand places like Mesquite, AZ.  That's not true of Sedona.  We "get" Sedona.  It is just beautiful, and, because of the altitude and the very pretty Oak Creek that flows through it, it is green and has a lovely climate (at least this time of year - it does get hot in July and August, but not Las Vegas hot).  And the red rocks that surround it are indeed spectacular.  I wish we could stay a bit longer to enjoy it all, but this is our last day....  sigh..  I could spend a couple of days just sitting by the creek doing nothing....

I went for a short walk in the Red Rocks national forest this morning. 

The sky was a beautiful blue against the background of the red rocks!














The trail was supposed to be an easy climb to Brinn's mesa.  Which it was - but I mis-identified where Brinn's mesa was, and kept on going up
to the top of the next ridge.

In my defense, the trail was not marked at all, and at some point, there was a fork in the road, so - obviously- I took the road less traveled.... (the "right" trail is on the right, the one I took is on the left - see, it's not just me, it's not clear....).
It became clear pretty soon that I was not on the trail, and I ended up rock climbing up, and bushwhacking my was back down.....  It seems that even when I try to do things that are non life threatening, I just can't help myself.......

Here is Brinn's mesa btw, viewed from partly up the rocks I climbed.  The trail was actually very easily visible going through the mesa, which helped finding the trail back on the way down.

Here is the rock I mistook for the trail..... and climbed to the top off.

I was rewarded at the summit with a broad with of the valley.










On the way down, I saw this stark reminders of why they are so careful about forest fires around here - although this year, it has not been a problem here.

And I met this little guy....  I suggested to Joe that it may be a baby dinosaur.  But he thought that instead he may be a horned toad.  Goggle confirmed that he was right, but I still like my idea better.....

Then Joe and I went to see some of the more famous sites, and visit one of the "vorteces":  Sedona is supposed to be a place where the energy of the hearth gets out as positive, negative and neutral energy, in specific places called a vortex.  People go there and it makes them feel good.  I say...  If it makes them feel good, I'm fine with that...  Then again, i was feeling pretty good all day, so maybe...   :-)

 Here is one of the vorteces - people built a lot of rock things (A LOT!) there.  not sure why.  Again, if it makes them happy, i'm all for it....

 More rock things....

 And here is the most photographed spot in Arizona (google it!) - Cathedral rocks, seen from the Oak creek stepping stones.  And below, Joe and I, in front of the rocks, near one of the vorteces (don't we look happy and calm - that must be the reason...)

From there we went to slipping rock state park, which I found simply delightful!  It's just a strech of the Oak creek, with a lot of gentle rapids and - as the name indicates, slippery rocks- and people go for the day and play.  It's just fabulous to see!  I wish I had had a bathing suit with me, as I would have loved to join them.



Then we spent the hottest part of the day just hanging by the creek at the hotel- I just love it there.....  It was not that hot in fact, I think the high was a dry 84 - pleasant.  But the sun is very intense.
Finally, we took a back-road jeep tour in the national forest - which was a great way to see much more of the red rocks.  A storm was around - it never got to us, but it made for fabulous skies:  Here is a very small inkling of how beautiful it was.

 Sun lighting the rocks, while storm is coming.

Sun reflecting on the clouds and on the rain showers

Sun setting on "snoopy rock" (can you see snoopy- lying down?) and on the storm.









and here is me being silly and doing a bit of trick photography.

Tomorrow - early drive to Phoenix.  Phoenix to Dallas.  Dallas to reality.....   it was bound to happen at some point.....

Done with the grand Canyon - on to Sedona!

I never got used to the time difference between NY and AZ – which I guess is good since our vacation is almost over – so I was up early enough to catch the sun’s first ray on the cliffs of the Grand Canyon one last time. 

Then we were off to Sedona, our last stop.  We took 64 east, so that we could stop on the way at the many viewing areas of the Grand Canyon, and I could literally post hundreds of pictures, one more breathtaking than the other….  We could have spent the entire day, just going “ooh” and “aahhh”, on our way out…

So here are the 2 last ones: 

The trail I walked yesterday – one the left, one can clearly see the trail going through the Tonto plateau, about 2500 feet down from the rim.  And then down from that, the patch of the Colorado River where the trail gets to it – and then on the right (faintly) the foot bridge that crosses the river.

 I spent a lot of time going:  “Look here Joe isn’t this amazing”?

We finally exited the park and drove south toward Sedona – again, we could have spent days looking at the different sights.  But we just admired most of them from the car: 

 Here is mount Humphrey (A mount I had never hear of) which, at over 12,000 feet is the highest point in Arizona, and visible from very far away.  It is part of the San Francisco range – a range I had never heard about either…. I guess there is much about this region I still have to learn.

We drove through Flagstaff, which is significantly prettier than I thought.  Not that I thought it was ugly…  I just never thought about Flagstaff… anyway, it is really lovely, in a beautiful ponderosa pines forest, with gorgeous meadows.   But we did not have time to stop, and continued on to Sedona, down the Oak Creek canyon – another amazing sight.

Did not do any sightseeing today, but enjoyed a bit of luxury at “L’auberge de Sedona”, right on the Oak creek, 

 where we had a wonderful dinner right by the creek.

  The food and the setting competed with each other in greatness……Appetizers were Dungeness crab crepe, and bib salad with Dungeness crab.

 Main course was roasted veal cheeks in an earl grey broth with rosemary polenta (I had that, it was simply amazing!),

 and venison with hen of the woods mushrooms (Joe had that – he said it was great, but it could not possibly have been better than the veal cheeks….)

 And of course, dessert….

Now, we are going to do some star gazing (the hotel hires an astronomer, with a high magnitude telescope.  With the dark skies around here, it should be fabulous).

Tomorrow, more hiking and sightseeing.

A Bright day onthe Bright angel trail, and on the rim.

The “bright angel” of the trail must have been looking out for me, because when I woke up, my ankle was feeling much better and the weather just could not have been better!.  So I started heading down the trail just before sunrise at 6am.

There are many dire warnings at the trail head about not walking all the way down to the river and back in one day.  They say things like “there are many people in better shape than you can possibly be who have tried to do this and died..”    This is probably true, but it refers to trying to do it in the summer, when the temperature at the top is around 80, and it can be as hot as 105 at the bottom.  I’m pretty sure that these do not apply to a day like today – perfectly crisp 41 degrees at the top in the morning, and 78 at the bottom!  In fact, I met several people doing the same thing as me, including a group of very fit young people, who were JOGGING the rim-to rim trail!!!!!  And also two 70 year old gentleman who said they were planning on doing this leisurely, and had brought head lamps in case the came back after sunset- which would make it a really long day, since the sun sets around 7:15pm.....

But early in the morning , and particularly toward the bottom, it was very quiet and peaceful, a lovely reprieve from the throngs of people on the rim.

This being said – the fact that is was doable, certainly does not make it easy – this is no stroll in the park….  It is 9 miles (one way) and a change of elevation of 4600 hundred feet (also one way). 

The way down took me almost exactly 3 hours, and was really pleasant.  Here I am on the Tonto plateau (about ½ down) – I don’t think I looked as happy on the way back up.

 

I made it to the river shortly before 9am.  

Since I had given myself a turn-around time of 9:30am, I decided to keep walking along the gorge, to the foot bridge that goes to the camp ground (the bridge is in the background)– I think I’ll have to add “Stay  at the Phantom range campground overnight” to my bucket list, it looks really cool…

 Then the long climb back began – here are the switchback getting out of the lower gorge,

 and the trail just in front of me (taken from the same spot).

 On the way, I saw many creeks, and pretty water falls, which is unusual this time of year, and result of the recent storms.

I tried to rest at Indian gardens (a welcomed oasis of shade on the Tonto plateau) before the last 4 miles climb, but was literally harassed by squirrels:  they must not have read the sign saying that they should stay away from tourists, and that they carry bubonic plague….  So I moved on…. 

 From the Tonto plateau, there is a very good, and very daunting view of the rim, which is where the trail eventually leads back....

The last 3 miles of switchbacks were tough – and also much more crowded.  

 I rewarded myself with some ice cream by the rim!  My i-phone, knowing what matters,  choose to focus on the ice cream, and not the canyon……

While I did this, Joe spent some quality time with the super-duper camera lens.  Here is a (small) sample of the magnificent pictures he took.

 He also met some interesting wild life (shown here is a female elk), and many pretty flowers....

To celebrate our last day at the Grand Canyon National park, we had dinner at the El Tovar:
Appetizer and local wine,

 Desert with Merlot (entree not shown.....)

During dinner, and walking back to the room, we encountered this really big elk, who seemed to greatly enjoy the grass in front of the restaurant. (he was with a couple of females and yearlings, the rangers worked hard at keeping everyone within safe distance - this is the beginning of the mating season, and they can be quite territorial).

We enjoyed our last evening lights on the canyon.  Tomorrow, our last stop on this south-west adventure, Sedona.