Mesa to Sedona

Mesa is a suburb of Phoenix that is smack dab in the middle of a transition from the old motels and businesses of the '50's and 60's, to modern solar powered businesses, trendy shops and restaurants and a beautiful new LRT system.  We stayed in a '50's era campground, right across from the LRT and although we didn't use it, preferring to walk everywhere, we did look at it longingly.  Harold was our camp host, he's 77, a widower and has owned the camp for 40 years and maintains it beautifully.  

There were meaningful statues every few yards
along the streets.

Finally found a chair I can really curl up in.

Just can't stop a clever thief!

Adorable!

LRT station at night....we're drooling!

Loved this old camper

Complete with an outdoor miniature kitchen

A large bed

And lots of extra storage

Our neighbours truck

Another LRT station in daylight....bought new bibs...

March 1st, we left Phoenix and drove to Sedona and the most amazing views we have seen on this trip... magnificent red rocks.  The red colour found in most of the layers is hematite, or iron oxide, a mineral commonly found in sedimentary rocks.  These rocks are old! From bottom to top, there are about 80 million years of sediment deposition.  Each layer was deposited in its own geologic era.  Some layers were deposited in shallow seas, some in river deltas and flood plains.  Some layers are hardened sand dunes.  All of these strata, except basalt, were laid down, one on top of another, during the Paleozoic Era.  During this era, fishes dominated the oceans and plants and amphibians were just starting to live on land.  T. Rex had not even evolved.  Amazingly, these rocks haven't eroded away even though wind and water have been working on them for 275 million years.

Bronze Javelina's (they do love their statues in Arizona)
at the Visitor Centre

Our campground was in a valley in Sedona, however was so secluded that we felt as though we were way out in the country. The stars were brilliant.

View from our campsite

A Northern Arizona University study found that 64% of visitors in a recent year, came to Red Rock Country seeking some kind of spiritual experience.  Part of the attraction is the inspirational and regenerative nature of Sedona's scenic beauty, as well as a recreation destination.

Sedona is believed by some to be a vortex meditation site, places of power in the red rocks, that enhance prayer, contemplation and reflections for people of all faiths.  Most Sedona bookstores have books on vortex beliefs and methods for experiencing these aspects of spiritual exploration.  Vortex sites are some of the most visited and impacted sites on the national forest.

There was an art walk our first night there, and we took in quite
a few galleries in this beautiful Spanish-influenced mall

A fabulous sculpture of an aboriginal braves struggle
with an eagle

Unusual sight of a tree growing almost
horizontally between two buildings in the mall.

The plan for March 2, the day before Bob's birthday, was to do a long hike or two to celebrate.  A couple of hikes were recommended by the Visitor Centre and Bob decided that these were the two he'd like to do.  We set off after breakfast to drive to the trailhead for our first hike.  When we got to the T junction of the main road, Bob asked me which hike(s) we should do and I was surprised because I thought he'd already made up his mind.  A bit of a "lively" discussion ensued and after a couple of minutes, I said "Boynton Canyon!" which meant turning right instead of left to the two trailheads he'd initially selected.  We parked the van and headed down the hill to the trailhead.  At this point, I must say that on every trip we have taken over the past 10 years, something wonderful happens, we have the most amazing adventures and meet very, very special people.  I call it synchronicity and the story of this hike is another one of those.  Bob declared it the best birthday that he can remember, and I was thrilled that we took the path that we did.  Here's how it went.

Bob was walking about 20 feet in front of me (not the least bit unusual I must relate) and I saw several people leaving the trail and walking toward us.  Among them was a very attractive middle-aged man who had an amazing smile and who greeted Bob warmly.  Bob greeted him in return and then the gentleman stared straight into my eyes and asked how I was on this fine morning.  I laughed and told him that I was wonderful, then asked how he had enjoyed his hike.  He told me that it was wonderful, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a red rock heart that he had carved.  He held it out to me and asked me to touch it to my heart and carry it with me always.  He said that all the experiences I would have that day would be collected in the heart.  In future, I could hold the red rock heart to my heart and experience every moment of my adventure.  I was truly touched and thanked him.  He then thanked me and we went on our way.

It was a hot, beautiful morning as we headed
to the first lookout

I wanted to climb up there, then reconsidered
when I watched someone attempting to come down!

As we headed further down into the canyon, we
could not get over these beautiful rocks

The contrasts of smooth and rough, and the brilliant
colour of the Manzanita trees

No one seems to know the significance of the crosses, however
we do know that this isn't a graveyard

Meeting people along the trail, we were warned
to be careful because up ahead was snow

The air above our knees was hot and below was chilly and Bob
received the snowball right in the middle of his forehead.

Here he is, pretending it doesn't hurt.

Meeting a couple of men on their return trip, they advised
us not to go to the end of the trail because it was slippery and
dangerous.  We decided to press on anyway to finish the 3 miles.
A young woman passed and greeted us, then we heard the
wonderful sound of someone playing a flute.  It seemed
to be ahead of us but the echo chamber the canyon created,  made
it difficult to determine where it was coming from.

We made it to the top and the end of the trail and were rewarded with a magnificent sight...the canyon.  What a view!  The young woman (Marla) who had passed us on the trail was there, sitting on a ledge with a man (Johnny) who we assumed was her partner.  When we had appeared over the steep hill, Johnny said "So!  You two have no quit in you either!"  They offered us food and we declined because we had our own lunch, so we joined them sitting on a ledge, eating and chatting.  Once we had packed the remnants away, Johnny asked us if we would care to join him on an off-trail return trip.  We had learned in our conversation that he was a professional guide and we asked if he thought we could do it.  He said that he knew Marla's abilities and thought that if Bob and I had made it to the top of the trail and were not afraid of heights (aha!!!) or tight spaces (ahahaha!), we could do it.  To this point on our hike, we thought that he and Marla were a team and finally I asked how long they had been hiking together.  Marla said "it's the first time in my life I've seen any of you!".  Both Marla and Johnny are technical climbers, which means that they climb to great heights using equipment, and also rappel from the tops of very tall canyons and other structures.  Marla also teaches teens to climb and she had the perfect personality for it; a calm, experienced and lovely young woman.

Johnny took us along a really steep slope which required (in my case) crab-crawling above a 200 foot drop.  I kept my eyes focussed directly in front of me and didn't look down, especially as we walked a few hundred feet along a ledge that was about 6 inches wide.  After about 1/2 hour, and as I was beginning to believe I could leap tall buildings, Johnny introduced us to our first chimney.  A chimney is a narrow crevice that requires climbing down into a steep shaft, preferably with your back against one wall and your feet level with your shoulders and pressed against the wall facing you.  The perfect plan would be to inch your way sideways and down, until you reach the chimney floor, approximately 20 feet below.  Johnny threw our packs down to the floor of the chimney (no turning back now!), then made his way down to the bottom.  Marla went next and I could see that she was trembling a bit, in spite of her experience with climbing.  I looked down and couldn't see any real footholds and noted that the floor of the chimney sloped fairly dramatically (from that angle anyway) about 20 feet to the edge of the cliff, so that if I tumbled to the floor of the chimney, it would be difficult to prevent myself from continuing on to the edge of the canyon and into the next life.  Marla made it to the bottom  of the chimney, and stood on a couple of tippy-rocks to help me down.  My knees began to quiver and I felt some panic, sensing that I may have gotten myself into a situation that would be difficult to get out of.  I realized that I couldn't descend the way that Johnny and Marla did, feeling more comfortable backing down into the space instead of going in sideways, although I could barely see where I was to place my feet.  Slowly I lowered myself down while Marla told me where I had a ledge for each foot to rest on.  At one point, she told me to reach down with my right foot and rest it on a ledge.  I looked down, expecting to see at least 4 inches of ledge and could only see what looked like a tiny wrinkle in fabric....it was so small and narrow.  She promised me that it would hold my weight, and sure enough, it did.  I was squeezing my left foot down from above me, when my boot got caught in the narrow opening.  Here I was, doing the splits, something I've never been able to do in my entire life, (preventing me from the coveted role of cheerleader in high school),with my left foot above my shoulder and caught in a narrow crevice, and my right foot resting on an almost non-existent ledge below me.  Bob was above me but couldn't reach down far enough to extricate my foot, so  I let go with my left hand while clinging to the rocks with my right, and force-wiggled my boot free, then made my way to the bottom of the chimney.  Thank you Rachel and all my yoga teachers!  Couldn't have done it without you!!  Bob had his own challenges descending, and Johnny was there to help him get there safely.  It was exhilarating for both of us to do this challenging hike.  We are very grateful to our special guides/angels.  Imagine the headlines!

Beginning our off-track hike

Johnny disappearing into the chimney

Marla catches me coming out on the last 10 feet of the chimney..
...don't I look comfortable?  The Royal Robbins pants are ruined by the
way..and I wouldn't change a thing! 

The beautiful cavern at the bottom of the chimney was worth
the heart palpitations

That's Johnny guiding Bob down

Marla told me after my descent, that she was also very, very
nervous without her climbing equipment, but so proud of herself and me...Bless her!

Marla, Bob and I were talking excitedly, with our backs to Johnny, when suddenly we heard the music of a flute.  What a reward.  This shy, humorous and humble man gave us a most beautiful and thrilling gift.  We had found the mysterious flute player we'd heard earlier...or as we now believe, he found us.

Yes, we walked THAT ledge around THAT corner

To see THIS ancient Indian dwelling

Beautifully preserved

Johnny believes that the corn cobs you see here have been here for hundreds
of years.  Food doesn't break down in the desert as it
does in more humid climates, and so it stays here forever....well, as long as "forever" happens
to be.

We loved this amphitheatre-like setting and stayed for a very
long time

Johnny was so happy that we loved this place, and we discussed such
interesting topics in this environment.

Some of Johnny's profound comments and questions were:

- "Man, in his arrogant fashion, declares that we must save the planet.  How ridiculous is that suggestion? Man must save himself!  The planet will survive as it always has, and will become stronger after man has gone.  We will extinguish ourselves through our arrogance, greed and waste.  This is the reason we must stop destroying our environment".  

- On the subject of choosing our parents prior to our birth, he said that "a rebellious teenager was vicious with her mother about a current struggle in her life, and when her mother asked her why she had selected her as a mother  if she disliked her so much, her daughter said "I must have been in a hurry!"

- On the subject of UFO's:  Johnny has many friends in government and scientific positions.  He guides them through the remote areas of Arizona for research purposes, and spoke with one of his friends about "non-existent" UFO activity (he believes this to be the ultimate in man's arrogance...that other forms of life can not possibly exist in the solar system).  His friend said that it is believed by the government that UFO's do not exist but that they have "documents" in their secret files and hidden in a secret and safe place.  Johnny's question to his friend was:  "If UFO's do not exist, why does anything have to be documented and kept in a secret place?"

Our conversations over the 3 hours spent with Johnny and Marla were relaxed, enlightening and absolutely brilliant.  Each of them had knowledge, insights and beliefs that were intriguing and that challenged us to "think!".  How fortunate were we to have had this encounter among the canyons of the vortex....and the red rocks of Sedona...and a day before Bob's 66th birthday.  There are no coincidences!

We finally descend to the bottom of the canyon and back to the public trail...and the snow

Johnny took us 30 feet off the trail and pointed way up and we
saw more ancient dwellings

and another..

Johnny is very upset with the helicopters that are not (legally) allowed
to drop this far into the canyons.  They disturb the wildlife and
destroy the dwellings with the wind from their rotors.

Two trees fused together years ago and are called
"Two-as-one"

Before we even caught sight of the Javelina's (Have-a-leen-as),
Johnny stopped us and told us to wait because he had spotted
them long before we had.  Such beautiful animals.
Did you know that they are the same family as the rhinoceros?

As we were coming to the end of the trail, I asked Johnny if he knew the man who gave me the red rock heart.  He smiled in his shy way and said "Yes, that was Robert.  When he feels a special connection with a individual, he gives them a heart.  We hike together on a regular basis.  He is special, and so are you!"

What's that up there?

Ah yes....a perfect place to meditate...the vortex!

At the end of our hike, we hugged Marla and Johnny and thanked them for the wonderful adventure in paradise.  Johnny's parting comment to us was this:  "Synchronicity brings like-minded people together.  There are no coincidences!  Thank you for joining me on this beautiful experience."

Herons above our van in the campground.  Did you know that
herons nested like this?  We didn't!

There were up to 9 at a time, standing in the 30 foot
trees above our heads.  Their landing was most awkward
and many campers complained about their droppings.  We
just thought they were adorable!

Lookout over Sedona...beautiful!

Next:  Grand Canyon West Skywalk, Joshua Tree and Salton Sea