Ok, not every pun can be a good one, alright?
We set our sails toward Sedona on our second day in Arizona. The drive was absolutely unbelievable – dips and slopes in a mountainous landscape, speckled with a surprising amount of spruce and fir trees.
We stopped at one of my grandpa’s favorite spots: the Oak Creek Vista Overlook. The overlook has several areas that you can take in the beautiful views, as well as check out the twisting road that winds itself from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the canyon, which we took on our way to Sedona.
The overlook also includes a Native American Artisan Market. A row of tables covered in an array of turquoise necklaces and earrings, painted pots and bowls, hand-beaded bracelets, and a variety of other handmade pieces line the side of the path to the lookout points. The vista also has a small Department of Agriculture station, where you can purchase trinkets and pick up brochures on various Arizona highlights.
At the overlook, we were at about 6,420 feet in elevation, compared to our normal elevation of 1,024 at home. But not for long! After circling around the vista, we hit the road again. We drove down a tumbling road that loops itself through the mountains and unwhirls itself at the bottom of the canyon.
Once we arrived in Sedona, we drove through town past the plethora of Vortex Tours, palm readers, and psychics that have taken up shop along the downtown strip – but we’ll get to that later. We headed straight into the red desert, and parked near a trail that brings hikers to Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock Vista.
My grandpa and grandma used to hike along these trails, which were absolutely stunning. There’s something about the desert, so drastically different than the lush green Minnesota I’ve grown up in, that is almost magnetic. It truly has a life of its own.
Which was displayed in this somewhat traumatic sign posted along the trail.
I don’t know about you, but that graphic of the screaming bits of soil is mildly terrifying to me. I misread the sign upon the beginning of our hike, and thought that the scared little soil-people were along the trail, and I wondered why they even let people walk along the trail if it was that damaging. However, it was a warning to stay on the trails, which we did.
We embarked along the Bell Rock Climb, and it was so worth it.
There were incredible views of Courthouse.
And spectacular views of the expansive red desert, where you could see the different layers of rock stacking on top of themselves in each mountainous rock formation.
I’d also like to point out that my shirt is from an awesome company I stumbled upon called Keep It Wild Co., which is based in Arizona. They donate 10% of their proceeds to keeping Arizona wild, and use the funds to host cleanups in Arizona, to make sure the landscape stays beautiful and trash free, which is pretty awesome. Companies that use even a small percentage of their revenue to do something good receive ten gold stars in my book. They also have guides to various places in Arizona, to give people tips and ideas on what to explore in the Arizona outdoors, and to encourage people to get outside. My shirt says, “The desert is calling, and I must go,” which is both accurate and awesome, so I was pretty stoked about it.
Ok, back to the desert.
We hiked up to the base of Bell Rock, where we paused to take in the views. We didn’t have enough time to begin the trek to the top, but made promises to return one day to do so.
We drove back into town for lunch at the Hideaway House, which was delicious, and also has a great view of the desert from their outside dining balcony. Then, we promptly headed back to the desert to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.
We somehow got a very close parking spot, which was optimal, as you have to climb up a steep path to get to the top of the chapel.
Along the way, there were budding cacti framing Courthouse in the distance.
Arizona is so cool.
Built into the mountain, the Chapel of the Holy Cross has a ridiculously beautiful view of the desert. The massive wall of windows framing a crucifix at the front of the church let in a beautiful light, and the interior of the church was lined with candles for visitors to light.
One thing that has always struck me as ironic is the gift shop in the basement of the church. At my last visit, I purchased this cute little rosary ring that I wear every day, but couldn’t help but think of the story of Jesus overturning the tables of people selling goods in the temple, and telling them it was a home of worship, not a marketplace. I wondered if the church ever read that scripture during services, or if the parish there ever thought it was ironic.
Next, we headed to the airport in Sedona, which has a cool lookout area, and also….a mystical Sedona vortex!
Sedona evidently has several energy vortexes, which are supposed to be areas on the earth that emanate concentrated energy. At these spaces, people can feel harmony, inner peace, or a spiritual awakening, amongst other things.
The vortex was located “.6 miles” from the airport. It did not seem like .6 miles, and I’m fairly confident it was a lie. However, we hiked to the vortex anyways, which was located at the top of a rock outcropping about halfway from the airport to the valley.
I had high hopes for the vortex. Along the way, my brother and dad were questioning how far we’d gone, and whether or not we’d gone too far. As we kept trekking ahead, we noticed a little desert pheasant just ahead of us on the trail. We followed him for quite some time, and every time he seemed to have run off into the brush, he’d appear at the head of the trail again. My dad commented on the fact that the pheasant was heading directly down the path instead of running through the desert.
“Maybe he’s our spirit guide!!” I said.
Before hiking to the top of the outcropping, there was a flat area just below with chairs and benches, as well as a few informative signs about vortexes. There was only one man sitting at one of the benches, facing the gap between mountainous rocks, with his eyes closed.
There wasn’t anything that specifically called the area out as a vortex, only a sign that said “summit,” which was a little too overstated for my Everest-framed mind, as the outcropping wasn’t too steep or massive.
Despite this, it was clear that we’d arrived at the vortex when we reached the “summit” – there were several people lying across the top of the rock, with their hands outstretched above their heads or perpendicular from their sides.
I didn’t feel any mystical energy whatsoever, but I sat down at the edge of the rock, and stared out at Cathedral and Bell Rock in the distance.
It was stunning. I sat at the top of the rock for a few minutes, taking in the beauty of Sedona. I didn’t feel any particular difference in the energy there, but was told later that I was supposed to try to meditate, which explains why there were people sprawled out on the rock.
To my right, the sun had a halo of refracted light wrapping around it – but I’m pretty sure that was more nature than mystic.
To me, the vortexes in Sedona felt a little like the church on the hill. They both were absolutely beautiful, but I’m not certain I totally jived with the entirety of what they were.
I believe that something like the vortexes could be real, but it seems to me that a place like that should be special all on its own, and pure from tourism. In Sedona, you can’t walk down a street without someone trying to read your palms or sell you a picture of your aura. It all ties into the vortex, and it seems to me that they shouldn’t need to monetized in that way. To me, it seems like a group of people is making money off the wishes or hopes that people will have a moment of clarity that verges on mystical.
Both places were beautiful, but they both felt a little bit like they were for sale to me.
After a while, we hiked back to the airport before heading back to our hotel for the evening.
This was just our first taste of the New Age spirit in Arizona; we’d see much more on our next day in Jerome, a hippy town built into the side of a mountain.
Connect with me!
