Miko and Me: I Think I Could Have a Long Term Relationship (with Sedona)

Wednesday

I only have two days left here at the Dead Horse Ranch State Park and I still haven't been up to see Sedona. I tried to get a couple more days here but the park is booked solid, so it was no-go. There are two things that I want to do in Sedona – I want to visit the art galleries and I want to hike as many trails as possible. I decided that today I would head up to Sedona without Miko and do the gallery thang.

I headed up Highway 179 which goes through Oak Creek which is south of Sedona. I had also heard that this was the most scenic way into Sedona and I heard right. You go over the crest of a hill and there are all of these red rocks in just amazing formations. I stopped at the National Forest Station to talk to them about possible trails that would suit my minimal hiking style. They had a short movie playing at the Forest station which was basically just a bunch of still pictures of all the beautiful natural rocks in the area. I wish I was staying longer so that I could see them all. I left the station with a bunch of maps and headed into town. I stopped at a few galleries and before I knew it the afternoon was done and I had only visited two sites. There was some rather unique art – I found a wonderful glass shop. I am partial to glass. One artist had taken thin strands of glass and laid them down as though she was weaving. There was a distinct warp and weft. She then fired the glass and when it came out, she manipulated the shape so it became vase like. I haven't seen this before, weaving with glass.

When I got back to Dead Horse, I got some mail from home which was nice. That is one advantage to staying places a little longer – you can get some of those niceties like packages from home.

Thursday

Today is Hike Day and Miko gets to come. To top it off, the weather is gorgeous – in the sixties and sunny. We have decided that Little Horse Trail would be the appropriate trail for us – it is supposed to be only about three miles roundtrip. The trail is hard packed red sand and fairly easy with a few little ups and downs. I can't remember when I have enjoyed a hike more. The scenery was beautiful and since this was a heavily used trail, every single person out there was smiling and enjoying themselves. At the end of the trail, it is marked 'More difficult' and you have to climb for a little bit up to a place called Chicken Point. I wasn't too sure about climbing up because of that height issue that I have, but I figured this was a once in a lifetime thing, I should continue on. I am so glad I did. It was a little bit hard and my legs were getting a little wobbly but I made it. Sat myself down on the top and shared a bottle of water with Miko and ate a little lunch.

In Sedona, there is something called the Pink Jeep Tours. Big pink open-air jeeps that they put maybe eight people in and take you out into the back country to see the sights. Evidently on the back side of this Chicken Point, there is a road that you can take to get up to the top. You need a 4-wheel drive off-road vehicle to do it, but jeeps qualify. Right around the time I got up to the top of Chicken Point, not one, not two but five pink jeeps showed up. Swarms of people. They only stayed for maybe 15 minutes and then they were off for their next adventure leaving Miko and me up there alone. Alone except for the mountain bikes that were working their way up the rock. Again – everybody friendly and smiling. How could you not?

Sedona seems to be a pretty special place. There is a definite feeling of peace and groundedness that you feel. They have many many miles of trails and I only did one. On top of that, you have some of the most beautiful scenery that I have seen. The weather, year-round ain't too shabby either. I wish I had more time here, I want to explore a lot more of the trails. I have to leave the area tomorrow.

BTW - Little Horse Trail turned out to be 5.6 miles and 38 flights of stairs according to my FitBit.

My Sedona Hike