Jeeping in Sedona!

By Patty Wilber

Warning: Pretty much a horseless blog.

While our better halves went backpacking in the Grand Canyon, Amber and I went jeeping in the red rocks of Sedona.

Apparently, the whole area around Sedona is a big electromagnetic vortex with four (some sources said seven) concentrated vortexes where energy flows out of or into the earth…Not that I am a total skeptic or anything, but, all of this was “discovered” by a psychic, Page  Bryant, who went on to profit from said discovery.  Measurement of this phenomena, (I mean, if it is electromagnetic, can’t it be measured?  I want measurements.) seems to be limited to one guy, Benjamin Lonetree, and his work does not seem to be all the mainstream…

The vortex areas are said to produce feelings of well being and tingling in the hands and feet. However, altitude, the red rock colors, the blue sky, and the sunshine (of course it rained and flooded while we were there), all may contribute to the special feel in Sedona, and there are actually studies on the positive physiological effects of being outside.

I did experience tingling in my hands and feet.  Oh. It’s the neuropathy. But all joking aside, while we did not visit the strong vortex sites, I did have feelings of well being on our trip.  The place is stunning!

Before we made it down to Sedona, we did the rim of the Grand Canyon, since our spouses and four others were hiking into the canyon for a five day adventure.  That place is truly jaw dropping.

Amber taking a photo of the Grand Canyon.

Me on the edge…of the Grand Canyon!

After Monday on the rim, we drove down to Sedona and on Tuesday, we took Fiona, the Jeep, to the Devil’s Bridge trail head.  That is a four wheel drive road, but a lot of people hike the whole way.  We just did the 0.9 mile hike to the arch (and back, so 1.8 miles total).  It is a VERY popular hike, and as it was Spring Break, there were lots (LOTS) of people there. It was still worth it!

Me under the arch!

Gobs of people going to the top of the arch.

After that 1.8 mile hike, we continued to the end of the Dry Creek Road, which is a 4WD road.  Not as many people or commercial tours were heading that way. (There are many many jeep tours going on all over the area.) It went along a decent sized (not dry) creek and ends at a trail head that is signed for equestrian usage.  Well, that is all fine and good, except dragging a trailer in there over the 4WD road could be a challenge.  Also, we did not see a single equine or trailer or horse apple or hoof print anywhere, despite many forest service signs indicating the trails were open for horses and mules. Lack of reasonable access, either due to lack of parking or lack of a trailer friendly roads, plus huge crowds probably keeps the equines away. (at bay?)

In the Jeep world, people give out little rubber ducks, but at the Devil’s Bridge, Amber and Fiona (the Jeep) got a turtle!

I sort of matched.

We also did an ORV road, Outlaw Trail Tuesday. That had a lot of smaller off road recreational vehicles, which looked like a lot of fun to be in, except they were often rather loud.

On Tuesday night it started raining.  It was predicted to rain all day Wednesday, melting snow in the higher elevations and perhaps causing flooding in Sedona! Apparently, me going to Arizona this year means lots of rain because there was big storm in January on my horse camping trip, too!

Good thing the accommodations by the water that Amber tried to book were full.  They had to evacuate! Luckily, the water did not crest as high as it was predicted, so there was not much damage.

We did not get rained out of our jeep trails during wet Wednesday!  The roads we drove had good bases and were not mud bogs and they were not flooding, either.

I think this is Broken Arrow trail.  Wet.

We went up Schnebly Hill Road to where it is closed for the winter. We hiked a short way in the rain to a great overview.  Good thing we had our rain gear because it was a soaking sort of rain! My hands tingled again…this time because it was pretty cold! Fiona (the Jeep, remember) had great seat warmers!  Ah!

Amber getting a picture!

You can see snow in the background and the wetness!

The drive itself also very scenic! The clouds and rain gave it a different feel!

We went to Soldier Trail, which has limited access (you have to get a permit in advance) and is a much narrower and more technical trail. At the gate, a guy mansplained that we should be careful, as it was slick. (Fiona has good tires.  It was not at all slick.)

We drove to the end (it is a short 1.5 mile road) but did not hike to the caves in the rain.  We got another permit for Friday and will try for the caves then. We did stop at the the Seven Sacred Pools, which were not pools, but a running stream! It will be fun to see them again on Friday when the the runoff is done!

We also did Broken Arrow Trail, which was also narrow and fairly technical. Amber had driven it before, which was lucky, because on the slick rock, in the rain, I thought it was impossible to see where the road actually went! We saw a big sink hole, a chicken? (looked more like a raven) shaped rock, and drove down some steep steps.  Four low is a very cool gear, as the jeep can creep up and down steep stuff! I got video but it is just shows us bumping up and down and does not capture the steepness!

For Thursday, we purchased tickets (a dollar each–big spenders) for a guided tour of the Palatki ruins and also planned to tour Honanki ruins, but both were closed due to the wet conditions.  The road was a bit muddy and slightly, yes mansplaining guy, slick, so to keep passenger vehicles from getting stuck, they cancelled the tours and closed the ruins.  Bummer.  All the ORV roads were also closed in that area. We did take a couple of short hikes to ogle the red rocks!

Friday, we are going to check out of our condo, try for the cave on Soldier Trail, and eventually make our way to Flagstaff where we will meet the backpacking crew and spend the night.  Home on Saturday!

What a nice break from the cancer stuff!

Cancer update:  Blood work early in the week next week and surgery (just a lumpectomy) on Thursday 3.23. I will have post op visits 3.29 with my surgeon and 4.3 with my oncologist.  The oncologist will let me know the radiation and post-surgery chemo plans, based on the results from the pathology of the removed tissue.  Fingers crossed it matches the MRI and shows no cancer.  If so, treatment will be shorter!

I am not looking forward to seeing what my body looks like after the lumpectomy, but am not planning to do any reconstruction.  Bleh. I am ready to be done!