Sedona

Sedona is one of those places of which almost everyone seems to have heard. Maybe because there's a Kia minivan named after it. It's only a couple hour drive north of Phoenix so we decided to check it out. We went to REI and bought a day hiking book for Sedona so we could experience it the way we like. As we approached Sedona our first impressions were "beautiful red rock formations" which soon gave way to "where the heck is all this traffic going???" There was a lot of road construction and a lot of people visiting the area. Never a good combination.

We did 3 small hikes to get a flavor for the area. Our first hike was part way up the Cathedral Rock Trail. Cathedral Rock, according to our hiking book, is the most photographed formation in Sedona. We re-enforced that distinction by taking a few pictures ourselves. We only hiked far enough to get a good view of the formation. You can hike all the way up to the base, which most people seemed to be doing, but our limited time didn't allow this. Our second hike, the longest of the day, was the Boynton Vista Trail. It took us to the top of a small formation which had nice views of the area. The magic was lost when a fellow hiker sat down next to us and proceeded to belch non-stop. Our last hike was on the Sedona Centennial Trail. This turned out to be a paved path to a so-so overlook.

Now that we've been to Sedona we probably won't rush back. It's very pretty around there but we enjoy the scenery around Phoenix just as much and we don't have to drive 2 1/2 hours to get there. But if you're into art, new-age vortex sites and REALLY expensive hotels then Sedona is your kind of place!

	Karen at Cathedral Rock.
	View from the Cathedral Rock Trail.
	View from the end of the Boynton Vista Trail.