Sunday, January 13, 2008
Life, Travel
Sedona: where red rocks glow against blue skies
It’s the afterglow of dusk, and we’ve just left poolside at our bed
and breakfast inn...
CREDIT: Sedona Chamber of Commerce |
By Susan Meyers
It’s the afterglow of dusk, and we’ve just left poolside at our bed and breakfast inn on the outskirts of what many in this state call Arizona’s only “beachfront property.”
Mind you, there’s no ocean in Sedona. Or beach. Real estate here is hot, and the climate can get even hotter. But schedule a trip to Sedona for a hiking getaway and the red rocks and mountains of this landscape glow at sunrise and sunset like no where you’ve ever seen. And they say Georgia clay is red.
With Courthouse Butte, Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock all turning hues of red as the sun goes down over the horizon, my husband, Garrett, and I purchased the most coveted item on our trip to Sedona from the front desk manager at the Canyon Villa Inn (www.canyonvilla.com). It was a 256-page book of trails, maps and photos entitled “Sedona Hikes,” published by Hexagon Press. That set the course for our four-day stay around this charmed village of 11,200, about two hours north of Phoenix.
Sedona is where rock stars and movie stars come to buy second or third homes such as Stevie Nicks and Al Pacino, thanks to the astounding views. This is the high desert, make no doubt about it. The air is dry, lip balm is essential, and it only rains in what natives say seems to be a few days a year.
But like the Grand Tetons in Wyoming or at El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, the scenery around Sedona offers ever-changing landscapes that prompt outright staring. We had to be careful not to drive off the side of the road, especially along 89A thru Oak Creek Canyon.
We chose to make this Arizona trip a hiking vacation, using our new guidebook to pick easy-to-moderate hikes. While some choose to holiday in Sedona for spiritual retreats, spa visits or to consult with New Age counselors, we wanted to commune with nature—out among the red rocks where it was quiet and dry. This was quite the contrast to Atlanta traffic and humidity.
All we needed each day was a good pair of shoes, shorts, a knapsack and plenty of water. Our first morning in the desert was a bit chilly, but we enthusiastically took our guidebook and set off for what appeared to be an easy 4.3 mile hike called the Courthouse Butte Loop Trail. The dirt and gravel trail took us around the base of each of the towering red rocks of Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock, but the trail was up and down and even went into a lengthy dry creek bed and backed up to a stubby red rock that my husband dubbed a spaceship from Mars.
As the temperature quickly warmed up, we befriended a New York transplant and her dog that hiked the final mile with us and gave us tips for an afternoon hike. Perhaps the best view of this journey was the back side of the trail. Just as the book indicated, we overlooked a canyon and two, narrow red rocks towering together like a radio tower that locals appropriately dubbed the “rabbit ears.”
During the entire rest of our stay, we tried to spot the “rabbit ears” from other vantage points with a camera or binoculars. On the advice of our new local friend, we ate lunch in town then drove north of the village on a harrowing dirt road for seven miles to the Palataki Indian ruins, a state-protected historic site. The drive was much rougher than the hike, which only took 15 minutes and was less than a half a mile up stone stairs to a room created by ancient Indian tribes. The cliff dwellings and caves within the mountain were used from ancient Sinagua to modern Indian tribes.
Reservations must be made in advance as only a limited number of guests are allowed daily to help maintain the ruins. We thought the drive back to Sedona through nearby Boynton Canyon and its dramatic red rocks and drop-offs were more fascinating than what was left of the Palataki ruins.
We spent out last day in Sedona on foot, fighting the temptation to lull in local art galleries. After driving to Crescent Moon Picnic Area for some pictures of the back side of Cathedral Rock, we headed for Red Rock State Park. A fairly new state park on the outskirts of Sedona, it offered a five-mile network of trails along a creek, through the woods—and one that proved to be our favorite, the three-mile Eagles Nest, a 300-foot ascent above the highest red rock in the park.
The switchbacks were tough, and at the top we saw why the trail earned its name—Eagles Nest. The view was a panorama of the entire Sedona vicinity (including those rabbit ears in the distance). We could see scattered estate homes below in the hills. The bright sun made the descent even more challenging than the climb though the fall breeze helped our body temperatures stay cool.
On the drive back to the Canyon Villa Inn, Garrett and I stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Oak Creek, with its glass wall behind the altar. It was a quiet, dramatic spot that Catholic donors had built for visitors to stop and pray. While we couldn’t understand the New Age bonding that goes on in Sedona, we certainly got the spiritual connection here between man, nature and a higher power that created such stunning, red beauty. SP