Travel, Photography, Life
A Week in the Glowing Red Rocks of Sedona
Sinaguan Ruins at Palatki and Honanki National Parks; Hiking Brin’s Mesa, Sheurman Mountain, Loy Canyon and Chicken Point; Astrophotography; Sunsets at Secret Slickrock and Red Rock Crossing
When I was eleven, my family moved from Upstate New York to Tucson, Arizona and my perception of the world shifted from being framed by rolling hills, Finger Lakes and blackberry brambles to the vastness of the unending blue skies and a sense of freedom in a whole new realm to explore.
Then when my husband and I were just starting out, we spent a year living in the red rock land of Sedona, about four and a half hours north of Tucson. We were in a time of transition and ended up in Southern California, where we have lived for many years now, but Sedona and the desert lands of the four-corners area (where Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico rub shoulders) have captured a piece of our souls and we both have a longing in our very bones to spend some time there each year.
We were lucky enough to slip away for eight days recently to immerse ourselves in the bright desert air, to breathe in the scent of sage and pinyon, and to gather a little red dust on our hiking shoes.
We’d rented a little house for the week. You never know exactly what you are going to get with Airbnb, so we were just delighted to wake to this gorgeous vista. I’d hoped to do a little astrophotography while we were there, and the darkness of this property, which backed up to national forest land, boded well.
On that first morning, we decided to hike in our old “hood.” After collecting some sandwiches from the local market, and admiring this Sedona version of a Christmas tree, we headed out to the end of Morgan Road to hike the Submarine Rock/Chicken Point trail.
From the parking lot, you can either stay low, or you can head up on the “High on the Hog” Trail, where the vistas seem to go on forever.
The legend is that kids used to drive their cars to the edge of the rocks on Chicken Point and dare each other to see who could get the closest to the abyss. Now, the REALLY rugged dirt road is only passable by the local Pink Jeeps and a few other brave souls.
After a great day of hiking, we returned to our little abode and settled down by the fire pit for the “Sedona Glow.” The glow happens everywhere in the world in the few moments around sunset, but it is so especially vivid against the Sedona red rocks.
After the sun set, we pulled out the hiking book to plot about the next day’s hike.
The Sinagua Indians occupied this area from about 500 to 1450 C.E., but a much older culture flourished here before that. We drove out to the ruins at Honanki National Park to see pictographs and the tumbled down “apartments” that the ancients lived in.
I was amazed to learn that a “Mastodon kill site” from 8000 years ago had been found at the foot of this cliff.
The pictographs are from many eras. I was struck by this one, in particular. It is thought to be a woman holding her child up to the sun for a blessing.
After leaving Honanki, we decided to hike nearby “Loy Canyon,” a scrubby trail that winds its way through golden grasses and ends up on a high butte.
That night we dined at one of our favorite “old time” restaurants — Judi’s. It’s been there forever and has sort of an “Old Sedona” charm, from before the time when all the tourists began to arrive.
We’ve done so many of the hikes here that we really don’t even need a guide book, but we vowed that, on this trip, we would do a few hikes that were new to us. So, the next morning, we ventured out to Hiline Trail, a gorgeous, winding path with views of Cathedral Rock.
It has become our habit, rather than going out to dinner each night, to have a late lunch/ early dinner after a day of hiking at The Hudson. The view from there is just spectacular.
Several years ago, I was the subject of a photo shoot by the amazing Robert Sturman at what was then a very secret spot — “Secret Slickrock Trail,” which has a gorgeous view of the backside of Cathedral Rock.
I’ve spent the last few years trying to figure out exactly where we had gone for this shoot. I thought I was sooooo clever to have figured it out — until we got there and it was absolutely packed with people there to view the sunset.
As luck would have it, there was another photographer who had set up in the exact spot that perfectly reflected Cathedral Rock in a pool of rain water (the ONLY pool of rainwater). I hovered and chatted and tried some other angles, without much success.
But, lo and behold, he left just as the sky was about at maximum pink and I swooped in with my tripod. At that exact moment, a little black and white dog “photo-bombed me.” I took the shot anyways, thinking it would be a dud. But when I looked at on the computer that night, I decided that Bandit definitely”stole” the show that evening!
The house we rented was loaded up with decks and decks of tarot cards, so we had a little reading each night. It seemed like a very appropriate thing to do in Sedona.
The next morning, we headed out for one of our favorite hikes, Brin’s Mesa.
Known as the “Sedona Stairmaster,” the trail climbs up and up and up through pinyon pines and incredible vistas until you reach a grassy mesa with a view back towards Sedona.
We seem to always hike our very favorite trails while we are in Sedona, but this time, we vowed to try a few new ones — like Shuerman Mountain Trail. It begins in the parking lot of the local high school (what a view those kids have) and winds up through some shale to a golden-grassy mesa. Once we were up top, it really felt like were walking through the golden fields of heaven — absolutely ehtereal.
After the hike, we headed back to the Hudson, where we had lunch and bought one of their famous chicken pot-pies to take home with us for dinner. I don’t eat chicken very often (I’m pescatarian), but I have to say that it was really, really tasty!
That evening we returned to the Secret Slickrock Trail, but the sunset wasn’t quite as pink, and I have to say that I like the shot with Bandit better than the ones without. What do you think?
One our way home, we were delighted to run into some local residents — the javelina. When we lived in Sedona, so many years ago now, we used to put food out for them. They are just so ugly that they are cute. And the piglets are the most adorable little things.
One of the things that I really, really wanted to do on this trip was so try a little astrophotography. Fortunately, the back yard was fenced in, because I didn’t fancy wandering around and running into the javelinas on foot (they can be pretty ferocious when they want to.
But I was happy with the results of my astrophotography session.
This was the view from the breakfast table each morning. Pretty nice, huh?
And there was even a little piano for Alton to play.
In the morning, we encountered a whole tribe of javelina.
The next day, we headed out to Palatki National Monument, another Sinaguan site. The pictographs here are incredible.
That night, we went to Red Rock Crossing for the sunset over Cathedral Rock.
And, sadly, the next morning, it was time to head home. We love the drive over the mountain through the countryside near Jerome though.
It was a lovely week and we already look forward to returning. Stay tuned for more in-depth articles on the Heritage sites and hikes.
If you enjoyed this, you might like checking out some of the other “Week in Photos Tribe” from around the world. I so enjoy reading about people’s lives and seeing what is happening in other parts of the world in real-time each week. Dennett started this a couple of years ago, and it has really been fun to keep up with.
Dennett /Anne Bonfert /Eileen Vorbach /Lisa Bolin /Tracy Aston /David Wade Chambers/Kim Zuch /Barbara Radisavljevic /LensAfield /Barbara Dalton /Sasha Meyer /Susan Alison /Diana Lotti /Barbara Dalton /K. Barrett /June Nguyen /Juan O. Aguilera /Ellie Jacobson /Shruthi Sundaram/ Pene Hodge /Tracy Aston/ Sandra Barrett/Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages /Shell Parsons/Ivy Shepherd/Mia Verita/ Lynne Nardizzi/ Ken Martin
(I know some new folks have joined in, so if I’ve missed any of the “week in photos” tribe, please let me know!)
Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).
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