Hiking amongst red rock giants in Sedona
As a self-identified child of the wind and sea, the last place I ever wanted to go is the desert. Just the though of all that dry air, lack of shade, and unrelenting heat makes my palms sweat. And yet, with the promise of seeing some of nature’s geological wonders in the form of monolith red rocks, striped with bands of yellow and cream, I set aside my nerves, and I packed extra water.
My company sends me Scottsdale in January every year when the weather is fair for a week-long offsite, and this year, Jeremy came out afterward and we drove two hours to Sedona for a weekend getaway.
Hiking
Cathedral rock is one of the more famous hikes in the area. I chose it for it’s short length of less than 2 miles and for it’s promise of seeing twisted trees, the tell-tale signs of a “swirling vortex”.
The twisted tree trunks are signs of the swirling vortex, a place that is claimed to be a site of enhanced energy that helps facilitate medication and prayer.
Though the hike is short, the 700ft climb gets tricky in some places, and it was deceptively difficult due to Sedona being at a the higher elevation to start with. My poor zero-elevation California lungs struggled.
We also saw people in sandals attempt this hike and turn back after realizing they needed shoes with better grip to grapple the boulders and uneven terrain. It also stands to reason that rocky deserts full of cacti is not a place to wear open toed shoes!
At the top, the air goes still, and everything quiets. We stood in the webbing between two red giants and gazed at the open expanse below.
Sedona Airport Mesa Vortex trail
I had heard that sunset on the Airport Mesa Vortext trail was breath taking, but so did everyone and their grandmother. This trail was much more crowded in the afternoon hours as tourists gathered to witness the area bathed in the glow of magic hour. Every time we’d pick a spot to stand and enjoy our view or snap a photo, someone new came in stepping in front of us. It was hard to not take it personally.
Most people clustered around the lookout made of large boulders, buffed by thousands of shoes clamoring for higher ground. We continued on the trail to get away from the crowds and hike around the entire mesa. In a rare miscalculation, we realized half way through that we’d lose the light before we got back to the car. We made it back at the trailhead near the now deserted look out at twilight and we still had a mile to go back to the car. My night vision is horrible, and I started to feel anxious about hiking in the dark without a flashlight. Jeremy ran back to the car in the dark and drove down the hill to the look out where I stood in the dark watching car after car drive by me.
