Sedona - Amazing Red Rocks
Here is Lois at the summit of Mount Schuermann after completing a very steep hike to the top ❤️🏆🎉
The scenery at Sedona is gorgeous. Thanks for persuading us to visit. So glad we came!
Lois and I are on a giant U.S. learning curve. We are on a quest to find great places to visit. Of course, everyone knows about the top-tier sites such as the Big 5 Utah parks, the Florida Keys, the Northeast in Fall, Yellowstone, and the Pacific Northwest. I could go on and on. But far longer is the list of other special spots in our country that come close to the biggies, some even rivaling these. For me, the further east we travel, the more we lean on stories told by others to know where to go.
So what does this have to do with Sedona, AZ? A lot. From our California point of view, it is hardly “east” — Arizona shares a huge border with our home state. For this reason alone, we should know the Sedona basics. But whatever the reason, Sedona has lived in the periphery of my mind. I could say the name, even spell it (I think?). Plus, I knew it was somewhere in Arizona. Probably north of Phoenix? Maybe near Flagstaff, or possibly Prescott (where’s Prescott?). That’s all I knew before our visit, the long and short of it. That is until — as Lois and I shared the news about our upcoming full-time RV’ing — the word Sedona popped-up over and over again. “If you’re going to Arizona, you gotta go to Sedona!”
The tipping point came when we stopped in for coffee while visiting Tahoe last fall. The server behind the bar, upon hearing of our future RV adventures, began going on and on about one place in particular. “Sedona… Sedona! Such an amazing place. One of my favorite places on earth”. He could hardly contain himself. So it was at that moment a switch flipped in Lois’s and my minds. “OK, I guess we’re going to Sedona!”
Sunny Hikes
It’s all about hiking in Sedona, and Lois’s and my first two hikes were on warm sunny days in completely different settings.
A proper Sedona red rock hike to the end of Fay Canyon
A flatland walk along Oak Creek at Moon Ranch
A classic Sedona hike takes you in front of, or deep into, canyon lands with high red rock cliffs leading up to irregular shaped peaks. The Fay Canyon trail is one of these. As usual, photos tell the story of its beauty best. But on this hike, special kudos go to Lois. The trail was amazing, slowly increasing in elevation to the end of a box canyon. But when we arrived at the final point on the trail, with nowhere left to go but up, Lois absolutely amazed me. Without hesitation, she slowly but surely scrambled up 80 feet of boulders and steep sided slabs of stone. When Lois arrived at her chosen destination, her reward was great. From the vantage point of her new found view, she — and eventually me huffing and puffing behind her — marveled at rich shades of orange and red rock canyon walls supporting craggy odd shaped mountain tops. Stretching out below was a lush carpet of tree tops and shrubs with glimpses of flat topped mesas on the horizon. It was a very beautiful hike, indeed.
I really appreciated our second hike along Oak Creek as it had been a while since I had some photo ops with water features. I’ll otherwise spare you the details — enjoy the photos!
Click Images to Enlarge
Cloudy Hikes
Our last couple of hikes were under gray skies with much cooler temperatures. We even had light rain and snow on our final day. The trails we did were:
Margs Draw Trail — another typical Sedona hike, this time in front of a very long, high wall of red rock cliffs and jagged peaks
Scheurman Mountain Trail — a trek to the top of a peak where we enjoyed a beautiful overview of the Sedona valley
Once again, I lean on the photos to share our experience. But I cannot continue without telling you another amazing feat accomplished by Lois. Motivated by the hope of a stunning view of the Sedona region, Lois climbed step-by-step up a steep grade to the top of Mount Scheurman. Upon arriving, we soaked in a gorgeous 270 degree panoramic view of the red rock region, including all of the areas we had previously hiked. Well done, Lois!
Bonus: Montezuma’s Castle
Montezuma Castle National Park, Camp Verde, AZ
One side excursion Lois and I did was to Montezuma Castle National Monument. The star of the show was a 5 story cliff dwelling built by indigenous people about 800-900 years ago. Not surprisingly, the structure resembles those found at Mesa Verde National Park. The ingenuity and architectural know-how exhibited by this ancient culture is mind-boggling!
That’s it for now. Next on our itinerary are several stops stretching across southern Arizona and New Mexico, ending with our first visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
