Before we arrived at this location, we spent three days at a spanky-new RV park in Camp Verde, AZ. They didn’t offer waffles, but they had every other amenity you could want, and our favorite was the beautiful outdoor heated swimming pool where we splashed every day. The only picture I got the whole time we were there, though, was this one:
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| Free-range chookies making us eggs at Sunnyside Farm. |
Once our laundry was clean, our fridge was stuffed with eggs, and our skin was dessicated from chlorine, we headed off to Dead Horse Ranch S.P. in Cottonwood where we would be for a full two weeks.
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| Site #110 in the Cooper’s Hawk Loop |
Dead Horse Ranch is a huge, beautiful park that offers miles of trails, three lagoons for fishing or paddling, a disc golf course, horseback riding rentals, as well as several campground loops and picnic areas. It is minutes away from Old-Town Cottonwood and less than 20 miles from Sedona, making it a good home-base for all the area has to offer. Our first order of business was to take a bike ride around the whole park to get our bearings.
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Well, actually, my first order was to get the feeder up for the sugar pigs. |
And for our first hike the next day, we headed into Sedona.
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| Choosing the Girdner Trail |
As far as Sedona hiking goes, it wasn’t the most spectacular.
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| Pacing ourselves. |
But it was still a nice, mostly level 5.6-mile jaunt with some expansive vistas.
It’s best to spread out the overwhelming scenery, so we stayed in the state park for our next trick and strung together a couple of the trails to make a 5.2 mile outing.
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| I liked the turning-tree lagoon areas the best. |
Before I show you our next hike, let’s talk about Sedona for a minute. I cannot describe it any better than Brian Dunning did in his piece in The Skeptoid, “The Verde Valley in which Sedona is nestled is incredibly beautiful. Staggeringly, shockingly, bone rattlingly, jaw dislocatingly beautiful.” If you clicked on that link, and I know that you didn’t, I’ll tell you that his article was not about Sedona’s beauty but, rather, its Energy Vortexes. You heard me. Sedona is not only famed for its good looks, art scene, mountain biking, and every form of guided tourism known to humankind, but if you want to get your woo-woo on, Sedona is the place for you. It’s a money-making metaphysical Mecca, man. The whole area is considered to be an Energy Vortex, but it also boasts specific locations of highly concentrated earth-energy. Going forward, I’ll refer to them as the Big Four Energy Vortexes or the B4EVs.
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| TBG thumbs through the trail options. |
Now, let’s talk for a minute about the greater Sedona trail system. It’s massive, well-signed, well-maintained, and busy every day of the week and every hour of the day. There are automated pay stations (cash or credit) at every lot which requires payment, and that’s most of them. The America the Beautiful passes (NPS — yay for us!) are also honored. If you can find a parking spot. You should be aware that you will never be all alone on any trail and you will never be completely out of earshot of some sort of vehicular noise Helicopter/Jeep/hot air balloon tours here! Hiking in the Sedona area has many wonderful qualities, but serenity is not one of them. You’ll also return from most any hike with red stains on some part of your clothing (socks being particularly susceptible, though you shouldn’t discount a red monkey-butt if you’re a timid scrambler as am I.) It’s a given that you’ll end any hike with half of Sedona in your nose. Why would anyone put up with all that?
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| Because this. |
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| And that. |
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| And this and that. |
We connected the Soldiers, Brins Mesa, and Cibola trails for 4.5 miles.
Because the northern boundary of DHP is also the southern boundary of Tuzigoot National Mounument, it was a natural choice to set off on foot one day to see what there was to see there.
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| The remains of the ancestral hilltop settlement come into view. |
Workers at the monument were obviously inundated with the question of how to pronounce the name because it was writ large on a white board immediately inside the Visitor Center entrance TWO-see-WHOODT.
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| A perspective only possible from outside the monument’s boundary. |
We enjoyed the small but well-appointed VC, a walk around the pathways through the monument, and a snack break on a shady bench before making our way back.
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| Some of the varied terrain during the 5.8 mile round trip. |
We took a break from hiking for a few days so that I could get my first dose of the new shingles vaccine, which was rumored to make most recipients feel awfully flu-ish for a day or two afterwards. Though I was spared the side effects with this round, we still stayed close to home working on our crafts and being entertained by several types of winged critters. And one skunk who visited at night to see what the birds had left behind. He didn’t care about being spotlighted by the flashlight, and when I told him quietly through the window, “You have to go now,” he turned calmly and did just that. Told ya last time, I’m a Doolittle.
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| You are here. |
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| Here a view. |
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| There a view. |
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| Everywhere a view-view. |
It is possible to scramble up Bell Rock, and we started to do just that along with a line of other people, but turned back well before the top. Too many people, too little room, and too much height makes some hikers nervous. Vortex-schmortex, we weren’t feelin’ it. We returned to a more reasonable level and completed our 5.1-mile loop.
For our next foray, we were up and out with the sun because we were headed out to see one of the most iconic places in Sedona, Devil’s Bridge.
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| Horny devil! |
As you can see from the sign, there are a few ways to skin this cat, and we chose to make a 5.8-mile loop using the Chuckwagon Trail.
Most of that was a relatively easy grade in and out of shade with views of the rocks lit by the morning sun. The dispute rages on about whether Sedona’s red rocks are best viewed at sunrise or sunset, but why argue? Both have their merits, sunrise offering much more clarity and definition, sunset enhancing the rock’s red glow. Enjoy some of each, I say!
After meeting back up with the road, the trail climbed gradually and then seriously and gave up the first views of the bridge. As you can see in the above photo, you’d have a hard time getting a photo of it without people on it. We don’t have any of the final climb up to the bridge because it required hands and concentration. Once we arrived, we took off our packs, handed our camera off to a fellow hiker, and got in line. Really. Beauty has its price, but at least everyone was helpful and encouraging.
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| Daredevils! |
After our photo-op on the bridge, we walked out onto a rocky plateau that’s just out of sight down to the left in this photo to enjoy the view of Airport Mesa (a B4EV) with our snack, although several noisy people followed us out there. After that, we took a short spur trail to see something that most other folks were walking right past.
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| The underside of the bridge! |
It shone a devilish orange-red and put the best perspective on the width of the walkway. In our photo, we were standing about where that notch is.
Next up was a hike that started at another of the B4EVs.
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| Praying away the devil at Cathedral Rock. |
The hike started with a climb up (to that flat area just below the spires on the left), but again, we didn’t finish for the same reasons as at Bell Rock: too crowded, too steep. No matter, we had over 7 more miles planned, and as you’ll see, we missed nothing by putting the kibosh on “summiting” the cathedral.
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| Too bad it was too cool in the morning for a dip in Oak Creek! |
Before long, we came to a part of the trail, the kind of which I have since dubbed a “cuss-and-grumble” section.
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| and this was an easy part! |
Wanna know something even crazier than looking straight up to see a white trail marker and realizing that’s the trail? Mountain bikers RIDE ON THIS. Sure, they’re completely unhinged, but since we didn’t come across a pile of mangled bikes and bones at the bottom of these sections, I can only assume most of them make it out. I swallowed my heart and persevered and was rewarded by this:
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| Whew! I loved how the clouds mimicked the landscape. |
The trail traversed this wide, slick-rock plateau for a long time, giving us (me) the chance to calm down and appreciate the scenery.
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| The back side of Cathedral Rock made for a gorgeous lunchtime backdrop. |
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| Fortunately, the way down was not like the way up. |
Far across the wide valley, we could see what is considered by some to be a particularly potent EV.
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| The Chapel of the Holy Cross |
Maybe while I was on his bridge, that bad old devil knocked my chakras all out of alignment, but this piece of architecture did not call to me in the slightest.
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| The terrain, on the other hand… |
Our final hike took us to the vortex considered by some to be the region’s most powerful.
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| TBG got caught up in the swirling Boynton Canyon eddy! |
The first mile or so paralleled a local housing area and, while pleasant and relatively easy, it was not particularly peaceful. Before we knew it, though, we were walking in a kaleidoscope of autumn color.
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| Leaf-peeper’s delight! |
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| Portions of the canyon walls seemed to glow from within. |
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| Boxed in! |
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| Shoo, flies, I’m trying to channel! |
As you’ve probably surmised by now, I’m not a disciple of New Ageism and don’t really put much stock in the vortices, but that doesn’t mean I discount the many ways in which the Sedona area can contribute to our overall emotional and physical well-being.
Our brains get flooded with “happy” hormones when we encounter that which we find beautiful. Sunlight on our skin prompts the body to manufacture vitamin D, a deficiency of which can lead to fatigue and depression. Physical activity helps stave off anxiety and improve mood. Whether you believe in the science or the speculation, any place that offers all of that in abundance is bound to call to us.
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| It’s easy to see why. |
COMMENTS
Chasing Dirt I remember your’s & Laura’s posts about getting skunked by ice & mud on the Devil’s Bridge hike! Almost all the Sedona trails connect, so it is easy to access the power of the vortexes — they say you need only come within a half-mile of one. I prefer “vortices,” but in my research I learned that Sedonans prefer “vortexes.” Ha, you can see I spent far too much time in that rabbit hole!
I appreciate that you found so many gorgeous hikes so that we can follow in your footsteps when we make it back to Sedona. And now that I know you had such a great time, I’m inspired to return! Staying put for two weeks at Dead Horse Ranch SP sounds positively luxurious. And hey, you could’ve had a pet skunk! I’ve always wanted a pet skunk. They’re supposed to be really sweet and affectionate. 😻
Chasing Dirt Poor Sedona, its beauty is its curse, isn’t it?
You will have no trouble finding hikes! I almost wrote about the fact that because almost all the trails connect at some point, the variety starts to become limited. Now, if we lived there, I would totally feel comfortable going out by myself on most of them. And you know you must return because we have a dinner date😉
I think you should get a pet skunk. I bet they’re really soft.
Chasing Dirt Thank you! It’s pretty impossible to go wrong no matter which trail you choose!
Chasing Dirt Don’t be jealous, you also have to go back for our dinner date with Raven & Chickadee! I need all your help getting TBG to spring for a fancy meal at Mariposa. I looked several times at your post of the muddy hikes you did, trying to figure out exactly at which point Kevin continued on without the rest of you.😁 I thought of you guys during the sunrise photos, too, LOL
I’m sure you will be back for there are still trails up there that’s
calling you (Hang Over Trail). Great photos of the Red Rock Country, and
capturing TBG’s trail name poses, I like the one where you caught him
jumping or dancing of joy.
The fall colors added to the already very red background, and TBG’s silhouette under the fall foliage was fantastic.
I think your channeling is also called red rock bathing ( i just made that up 🙂
Chasing Dirt Oh, we’ll be back! TBG says probably every winter if we’re in the southwest. I had to keep looking at your pics of the Hangover hike since do many looked like our Cathedral Rock loop. Some of those two do cross over. But we’ll have to meet up there and hit the trails together!
I had so much fun with all the birds there. Listening to the quail talking made me miss my chickens. I used to love listening to them chortle.
Ha, Red Rock Bathing — I love it!!
If you feel adventurous next time, there is some great boondocking right near Sedona which makes it a little easier to get to some of the hikes nearby.
Hoping to catch up with you and TBG in Tucson this winter!
Chasing Dirt Oh, yes, we got to pet lots of dogs out and about! I wonder if they can sense the vortexes?😉
We did notice lots of boondockers in the area and would definitely consider that next time. It would also save us some money so I can get that fancy meal I wanted 😆
Yes! So looking forward to connecting in Tucson!!
Chasing Dirt Thank you! So glad to have you riding and walking along!🙂