Wednesday, March 22, 2006

SEDONA














Steve and I took a trip up to Sedona Tuesday. It is so beautiful. Mind-blowing. At least the parts that are unaltered by human beings... Some dodo, or group thereof, has seen fit to build a ritzy resort right smack in the middle of the grandeur. I guess part of its ritziness lies in the way its structures blend with the color and alignment of what God built there, but the whole thing smacks of "Well, aren't we special?" Other than that...

We hiked into Boynton Canyon, a 5-mile round trip. Going in it was cloudy and cool.


What cataclysm must it have taken for these rocks to land like this? I loved this stump. I have an affinity for has-been's ... things that have seen better days but have a different beauty now, in this, their afterlife, which barely speaks of their past.
Manazanita, a hardwood shrub that grows in desert highlands. It grows all twisted and gnarled and complicated, live red bark growing on dried deadwood, bark now in its better days, in companionship with what has only seen better days and is no more.

Sleet started at our turnaround point, changed to wet snow/rain, then all snow. I was astonished how fast the dry washes had water in them. If it had been raining hard we could have been in trouble. We did a fair amount of puddle-jumping. I would have thought that with all the hiking I've done I'd be prepared for anything but I hadn't really expected to do a significant hike, had no hat, no gloves, only my denim jacket; luckily Steve had an extra sweatshirt. The whole 2.5 miles out was friggin' wet and cold. Here is a shot as we were leaving. The white glob at the bottom is snow that had already piled up on the hood and windshield in the parking lot.


Back in Mesa it was still 55* when we got home at 8p.m.

We have just today, Friday and Saturday in Mesa and then we pull out for the Grand Canyon, and after 10 days there we start our month-long trip back east.


8 comments:

E-Speed said...

Great pics! Have fun at the Grand Canyon! So beautiful out west!

Flo said...

Sedona is beautiful!!! If I hadn't moved to Hawaii, I would be living in Arizona or NM right now. I just love it down there. Enjoy the Grand Canyon and post lots of pics :)

Downhillnut said...

Cool that you appreciate the utter CHARACTER of has-beens and still-trying-to-hang-in-theres.

Una said...

That's incredible Ellie. Thanks for sharing.

Vickie said...

Beautiful Sedona, just the way I remember it--except the snow part! Luckily for me it was sunny though cool when we were there. I know what you mean about the resort or whatever it is--by the Chapel of the Holy Cross? It looks nice, but what will be the effect on the area you have to wonder. Have a good trip to the Grand Canyon. I hope to make it next time I visit Arizona. And have a safe trip back east.

Fe-lady said...

Beautiful...we mountain biked there last summer and headed up to the north rim of the canyon to bike/hike in May (right at the end of the school year)...
I "knew" Sedona back in the early 70s and don't like alot of it now. Glad they have kept some areas wilderness. HATE the pink jeep thing going on!!!! (Luckily we rode early and were on our way back to the hotel as they were headed out!)
Have fun at the canyon...tell it "hi" for me. We are old friends! (Have run it a few times, on foot, and in a raft!)

Cliff said...

That is some great pictures.

Dawn - Pink Chick Tris said...

Love the pictures, except for maybe that last one...lol.