In 2010 we had stopped by Sedona, AZ on the way back from the Grand Canyon for just a few hours. That's when we decided we simply had to go back to this magical place of exquisite beauty. Sedona is a city in the northern part of Arizona with semi-arid climate. The beauty of this place comes from the mountains and sculpted canyons made of sandstone rock, colored red by the iron content in the soil which oxidizes and deposits on each layer of limestone. The rocks glitter red, especially around sunrise and sunset.
Sedona is considered to be a place with strong spiritual healing powers. There are believed to be about five 'vortexes' at various points in Sedona. The scientific basis to this has not been proven but there are many people who believe in it.
We stayed at the Hillton Resorts and Spa. I'd give the hotel a 2 out of a 5. It's supposedly a 3.5 star hotel. I thought that the views were not that spectacular, from the hotel, i.e., and the food in the restaurant was not great. The person who checked me in sold me an extra $18/night to use spa facilities and to get a kids-eat-free card, but since we were going around so much during our stay we got hardly any time to use it. He kinda decided for me and put it in before I could think. The next time I am going to put my foot down for more time to decide, however tired I am! The other thing was, we had a Pink Jeep tour booked through the hotel and they didn't tell us we had to go to a pick-up point rather than being picked up from hotel, and because of this we ended up missing our tour and taking a different one. I'd recommend that you try for a different place to stay if you visit Sedona. Anyway, here's something I liked in the hotel. It's a beautiful purple cactus I saw outside. Their landscaping outside was pretty good. They also had nice roses and begonias elsewhere.
Cathedral Rock
On the first day we started with a little desert hike to see the Cathedral Rock. We went on a trail that runs inside the Red Rock State Park and takes you through Oak Creek, Red Rock Crossing and Buddha Beach with various views of Cathedral Rock. Unlike usual trips, we went a little unplanned and so made it a short hike as we didn't have food on us, which is the most important thing when you're with a kid. But it was a pretty nice hike and our son had fun too. The best part of the trail is the creek. After hiking (albeit a very short hike) in the high eighties across the dry-as-dry-can-be desert, it was blissful to take a dip in the cool waters and step on the rocks in there. The view of Cathedral Rock from the creek is quite lovely.
View of Cathedral Rock from the creek
Shadow wearing shoes My little stone tower
At the state park we met this nice lady, who was also a tourist and she recommended these two places that were a must-see: the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and Back-o-Beyond. She said that the previous evening, there had been a drum circle to celebrate the first evening of the full moon. As I said earlier, Sedona is full of mystics and such, with a mixture of beliefs based on Native American and other cultures. The lady said that they could see the sun set and the moon rise from this place and with the celebration with drumbeats, that it was an unforgettable experience. We decided to go to both these places later that day.
So once we got out of the park, we stopped for lunch, and then continued the drive.
Chapel of the Holy Cross
This is a chapel that seems to grow out of the rocks. Pretty impressive, it has a huge cross outside and looks stunning. It's situated out of the heart of Sedona city and is in a nice, calm place. We couldn't get into the chapel as it was closed, but got a view from the outside. I can only tell you that it was grand. The picture just does not do justice to it.
Back-o-Beyond
Quintessentially Sedona
Back-o-beyond is a scenic route that takes you from Sedona to a point from where you get a view of Cathedral Rock from the other side from Red Rock State Park. When you drive all the way to the top of the hills, the road eventually ends there and takes you on the trail, at the end of which you get the most glorious viewpoint of Verde Valley and all the red rock canyons. It's quite an experience. After spending the evening there I was not surprised about the spiritual association people had built with this place. It is quite an extraordinary place, especially in the evening.
There were many people there who were meditating, some mystics placing crystals in certain spots, and some people playing the drums waiting for the moon to rise. I wish I had gotten to sit there in peace but it was impossible, given how our little brat was running around on top of the mountain. One wrong step could cost a lot, so we were constantly running after him. That bit was not fun, but the captivating beauty of the place didn't escape us nonetheless.
A view of Verde Valley
Spires
While we were hanging out, my husband stole someone's drum and played with them. A girl there was belly-dancing to the drums as everyone was waiting for the moon to show up.It was fun.
We were there for about a couple of hours but the moon didn't show up. Since we didn't have flashlights to hike back in the dark, we left before the sunlight completely went away.
This is something I have to go back for. I want to go sit there in complete peace and watch the full moon rise sometime in my life, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Pink Jeep Tour
The next day we started the day with a Pink Jeep Tour, which was alright. There was a mess-up with the hotel people who arranged it for us, due to which we missed the actual tour we were booked on, which was Broken Arrow, supposedly the best one, but got on a different one instead, called Diamond Gulch tour. The experience was "ok", though the ride itself was a pretty good 4x4 experience through the desert. We got to learn about quite a few things. The guide pointed out to a town on the other side, situated on the mountains, called Jerome, and spoke about how it's believed to be haunted. It used to be a mining town but now it has a good population of artists and hippies living there, besides spirits, of course. ;-)
During the tour we also learned about the vegetation. There's the Yucca plant used by Native Americans for various things including making straw to weave baskets. And the narrow leaf Yucca plant, which supposedly produces banana-like fruit that taste like sweet potatoes! Unfortunately they are not very abundant, and not available in any markets, but apparently some restaurants serve yucca roasts and such. Another reason to go back to Sedona!
As we drove through the desert we saw several dry flash floods. A flash flood is a really fast and short-lived, heavy flood that goes through a desert when it rains. Once the rain stops, it disappears but its path can be seen even later. Due to the unpredictability of these and their force and speed, when they come they are quite dangerous to unsuspecting life.
At one place, we saw a snake's sloughed skin lying by a rock. Other than that, we saw a lizard, some squirrels and a couple of jack rabbits which were the most fun.
During the tour, I asked the guide about the purple prickly pear cactus, and that's when I got to know that those were not native to the region but are brought in by people, specifically for landscaping.
Drive to Monument Valley and Navajo Trading Post
After the Pink Jeep tour, we started on this drive, and I must say this was the worst-planned part of the trip. It ended up being a super-long drive and we got back really tired, and once we reached we had to pretty much leave back as it was getting quite late. Monument Valley is close to Utah, and it was definitely very beautiful, no doubt about it, but there's a long way to go before the drive between Sedona and Monument Valley starts to get beautiful. Everywhere in the middle it's just hot, dry and brown.
The place around Monument Valley is all pinkish, a different tone from Sedona. It was extremely pretty around sunset, but unfortunately I don't have any picture of it.
On the way, we stopped at the Trading Post, which is huge. They sell a lot of Native American crafts and jewelery there. My husband got a nice dreamcatcher from there. After that pitstop, we drove further up, and close to sunset we randomly stopped somewhere, sat out in the open and had dinner, The sunset looked quite pretty.
The best part of this drive was when we saw the full moon, so big, and so yellow, and so close, as if we could touch it (and I am not exaggerating), on the way back. That was quite something!
And... The End
And the next day, a not-so-perfect vacation ended in a not-so-perfect way with us missing our flight and then staying the night in Phoenix and heading out the next day.
Sedona is definitely still on the list to visit! This place has again left me with wanting more of it. And next time I'd like to go to Slide Rock State Park as well, which is like a natural theme park where you can sit at the start of a stream and it takes you all the way down!
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