Sedona, Arizona

On our way to Sedona, we made a brief stop east of Flagstaff to see Meteor Crater. The crater, which was formed when a meteorite struck the earth about 50,000 years ago, is 3/4 mile in diameter and 560 feet deep.

In the 1960s and 70s, NASA astronauts trained in the crater to prepare for the Apollo missions to the moon. When one of the astronauts tore his suit on a rock in the crater, NASA discovered they had to improve the suits.

Visitors can only view the crater from the viewing platforms at the rim. The property is privately owned, and in my opinion, the experience is not worth the price of admission.

On to Sedona. The campground in town was fully booked, so we stayed in Page Springs Resort in Cornville, AZ, just a few miles from Sedona. Don't be fooled by the name. The facilities were terrible. The only saving grace was it was free with our Coast-to-Coast camping membership. Fortunately, we were gone most days, so we lived with it.

On our first full day, we met up with friends whom we had met in Capital Reef. We spent the morning  at Tiaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village in Sedona wandering around the colorful courtyard and enjoying the shops filled with beautiful art.

After lunch at Oak Creek Brewery in the village, it was time for sightseeing and hiking. Sedona is red rock country. You are surrounded with beautiful scenery everywhere you go.

We stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross,
a unique chapel that is built into the rocks.

Bell Rock

Then we headed over to Bell Rock and walked along a path around the rock. Here are some scenes from the walk.

The sun was setting as we returned from our walk, and it lit up the rocks.

Lee and I at the trailhead

On day two we hiked the Boynton Canyon Trail. It's a 2.5-mile moderate hike that passes through deciduous forest until it reaches a climb to an overlook in a large box canyon.











The first part of the trail skirts the Enchantment Resort, a private resort that you can see in the valley on the left. But don't dare to enter, or you will be evicted!

Along the trail

We saw the remains of stone walls built by cliff dwellers in front of alcoves in canyon walls. They were used to store grains.

Lee, Judy, and Edd at the overlook

View of the box canyon from the overlook

On our way back, we took a side trail to the Vista Trail that climbs to Boynton Canyon Spire. This is considered one of the vortex areas in Sedona. When we arrived at the base of the spire, we looked up to see a man at the top playing a flute.

Obligatory brewery photo!

That night we went back to the Oak Creek Brewery with Edd and Judy for pizza and beer. A fun end to the day.

Audrey Headframe Park has a 1918 mine shaft on display.

On day three, Lee and I took a drive to the quirky little town of Jerome. Jerome was a booming copper and gold mining town founded in 1876. Saloons and brothels lined the streets. When gold and copper dwindled the town became a ghost town.

Many of the original buildings still stand and are occupied by artists, unique shops, restaurants, and wine bars.

Art (?) installation where an old hotel once stood

Lee's over the shoulder shot

On day four, we went for a bike ride with Edd and Judy along some of the backroads of Sedona.

There was lots of climbing!

At the highest point of our ride. The name says it all.

One of the special things about travel is spending time with new friends that we meet along the way.












Back in the parking lot after our ride, we met this very unusual couple from Alaska who literally travel the world in his homemade home on wheels.

 














Time to leave Sedona. Looking forward to our next adventure!

That's all for now,
Lynda

Zion National Park, Angel's Landing and Other Cool Stuff

We arrived at Zion National Park from the west, through Springdale, Utah because the route from the east goes through a tunnel too small for our RV. When I came into Zion in 1992 we came from the east but weren't allowed to ride through the tunnel. Back then my bike was too small, now my RV is too big! Eventually I got to drive through it...in the car!

Zion National Park's prominent feature is Zion Canyon, 15 mile long, half mile deep canyon formed by the mellinia long cutting action of the Virgin River. The canyon was originally settled by a succession of Native American tribes including, Anasazi, Parowan Fremont, and  Paiute.
Mormon settlers discovered the canyon in 1858 and started settling in 1860 In 1909 William Howard Taft declared the canyon a national monument called Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1919 the newly named Zion National Park was formed. Last year Zion NP had 4.2 million visitors.

The Cottonwoods were in full fall color and highlighted against the red rock cliffs of the canyon.

The Virgin River

Two of the most visited areas of the park are Angel's Landing and the Narrows. To get to Angel's Landing you get to hike a 2.2 mile, 1060' elevation gain, steep, switchbacked trail to Scout Lookout.  Scout Lookout is the start of the .5 mile hike along a narrow ridge to a plateau called Angel's Landing.
There are some beautiful vistas and interesting points along the way. Coming back down Lynda counted 59 switchbacks!

The trail switchbacks up from left to right to the cutout section in the right center of the picture. Grades are 10-12%

This pic was taken from the switchback in the above picture looking back down the canyon. You can see the trail on the right.

The park service was doing trail maintanence and as we were going up, these tracked vehicles were going down. I was shocked because the trail is really steep, the dropoffs are really high and these vehicles looked scary to drive. One of the drivers looked really unhappy.

After a bit we hiked through a small canyon called Refrigerator Canyon due to the shade and breezes that blow through there. At 1.8 miles and 810' of elevation gain we came to the bottom of "Walter's Wiggles". These 21 tight switchbacks (gaining another 250") were named for the first park superintendent who designed and built this portion of the trail.

From the bottom:

From the top:

Unfortunately we only made it as far as Scout Lookout where our hike ended. 25 years ago I tried Angel's Landing, didn't make it past the chains (which you hang onto while climbing to prevent you from falling 800' in one direction or 1200' in the other) didn't make it this time either.

Me at the chains

I did take a pic of the valley from Scout Lookout.

We finished our hike and took the shuttle to The Narrows. The Narrows, an area where the canyon walls close in on the Virgin River creating a narrow, walkable trail through the river. People who were hiking the Narrows were all wearing rented drysuits and booties similar to fishing waders. We hiked the paved trail to where it ended and took a few pics.

The Weeping Wall on the path to the Narrows

We then headed east through the tunnel to Checkerboard Mesa  and the Beehives.
Both of these features have eroded in a way that leaves horizontal and vertical striations which give them their distinctive shapes.

Checkerboard Mesa

The Beehives

Unfortunately we only had one day in Zion but I'm going to add some random pics to give an idea of just how beautiful the park is.

The End