Settling in Sedona

 10-21 

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I have to say, this AirBnB is very nice. I woke early in the morning to find that at sunrise, a nearby large outcrop of classic Sedonan red rocks catches the first rays of the sun, ushering in the day with a warm, steady glow – which is perfectly framed through the studio’s feature window, and visible right from bed! Of course, it being very early and me being very comfortable, I simply enjoyed that sight for a while – and then went straight back to bed.

I did take a picture when I woke up substantially later in the morning though.

Since I’ve got five days here in Sedona, I wanted to take the time to slow down and do less of my usual “experience as much as possible at breakneck speeds without stopping” and instead do more of a “experience what it would be like to live here” kind of thing. So I was a lazybones all morning, reading a book out on the patio in the sun, enjoying the crisp but steadily warming day. Eventually I got hungry enough to do something about it, so I decided to walk to a nearby breakfast café, The Coffee Pot – a little over a mile and a half away, but who cares when the weather’s this nice?

Breakfast was decent diner food, and there was enough of it to have me regretting the long walk back to home base. But I had mostly walked off the incipient food coma by the time I got there, so that was good. I puttered around a little more in the studio, getting all of my things back in order, then packed my hiking gear back into Jane and set off for a little afternoon stroll.

It's really kind of unfair for a place to look this good just as you're driving around, honestly

By “a little afternoon stroll”, I mean just a four-mile hike over mostly flattish terrain. And by “mostly flattish terrain”, I mean a little over 500’ elevation gain, which I guess is moderate by any count, but certainly pales in comparison over the 2800’ gain that the Flat Iron trail served up to me a couple days ago. I was still feeling pretty rickety after that experience, and my knees are… unhappy. So I figured taking it easy today would be justifiable!

I arrived at the Mescal trailhead and set off down the trail, which took me along the side of a wide, flat valley rimmed by fantastic red and white buttes and mesas.

I happened to be on the shady side of the valley, so the walk through the junipers was quite pleasant. But I soon found myself sweating as the path turned to a steady uphill incline, and I worked to find clever ways to go upwards without actually moving my knees or hamstrings too much. Not that I was successful about that, of course. But I did make sure to take many opportunities to stop and take pictures of the valley, ostensibly to rest my legs (although also to rest my lungs – Sedona is at 4500’ elevation, and it takes about a day of “air sucking” before I get acclimated).

Anyways, the views were great.

After a couple of miles, I reached my destination (yes, this trip I seem to be hiking a lot of trails with an actual “destination”, for some reason). Devil’s Bridge, one of Sedona’s most iconic landmarks. A long, narrow natural bridge that appears to be perpetually teetering on the brink of collapse, an enigma of thousands of tons of rock somehow made fragile. A spectacular feat of erosion, occurring through the perfect confluence of the right rock composition, the right proximity to wind and water, and the right amount of protection from nearby larger outcrops. A marvel of Sedona and the greater American Southwest.

A marvel that was, unfortunately, fully in shade at the time that I arrived. Oops.

Nevertheless, still a spectacular view looking across the bridge out to the greater valley beyond. The fifty other people standing there right next to me also seemed to agree.

Let me tell you, I hate standing in lines outdoors. I really think it’s just incredibly dumb to be outside and have the entire planet Earth to go explore, and people want to take photos with one specific rock or tree or whatever so they all stand in line to do so. I hate it. But dang it, I was going to do it here at Devil’s Bridge… because a very long time ago, we took a family vacation out here and we took a photo on that bridge, and I wanted another one 25 years later.

So I stood in line, outside, with fifty other hikers, to take a photo on a bridge that was fully in shadow. And I stood there for probably thirty minutes, partially because the guy in front of me somehow had EIGHT children, each of which wanted their own photo of just them on the bridge. But, these things happen. And so I waited.

But despite the wait, there was a nice bit of camaraderie to be gleaned from the moment. As each group prepared to take their photo, they would hand off their phones and cameras to the next group behind them. Then they would scamper out to the bridge, pose for their photos – now snapped by the next people in line – and then scamper back, at which point the next group would proceed onto the bridge in much the same way. A long, unbroken line of human collaboration, for the benefit of family Christmas photos and Instagram posts worldwide. Still, a bit of a sweet moment for us all, I think.

Eventually it was my turn, so I handed off my camera and scooched out to the bridge. As precarious as Devil’s Bridge looks in the photos, it is really quite wide and it would be pretty difficult to fall off of (unless, say, one had eight children…). I posed for my photos, snapped a selfie, enjoyed the view from the bridge for all of thirty seconds, and then went back to reclaim my camera from the nice lady who had taken my photos for me. So here’s the results of that little lark:

Something pithy to say here about the state of America as told by selfie obsession, I'm sure...

The selfie photo in question (which turned out pretty good in my opinion, considering I'm pretty bad at selfies!)

So there you go, proof I did it and that I went to the same place I had been 25 years prior. I wish there had been more time to sit and soak it in without inconveniencing anyone else – or even seeing anyone else at all – but I guess I’d have to come back during the week at lunchtime probably to get that. Ah well, maybe next time.

I made my way back down the trail as even more beleaguered hikers straggled up. That’s just the nature of places like this, I guess. But I’ll be glad to get on some less heavily traveled trails this week, that’s for sure.

On my way home I stopped by the Whole Foods – continuing in my quest to “live a week” instead of “visit a week” – which meant I got to have some very tasty salmon in a lemon shallot pan sauce with sauteed bok choi for dinner. Ahhh, real home-cooked food. I also took the opportunity to clean Jane up at sunset, so I could watch the clouds and be useful at the same time. It’s just too unbearable to have her all ratty and covered in storm muck in a place as beautiful as this.

Feeling like I accomplished the day’s goals, I settled in for the night to research the hikes for the next few days. I think I’ve got some good stuff planned.

Until then, Kelly signing out.