For years we had heard about the beauty of Sedona’s red rock. And it’s true, the views do not disappoint. But those views come at a price. The entire area is overrun by tourists.
We had wrapped up a few days in Phoenix and drove north to our campsite at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona.
My sister and her husband had invited us to lunch at the L’Auberge de Sedona, one of the most stunningly beautiful dining locations you’ll ever see. Unfortunately, it too comes at a price. It’s stunningly expensive to dine there.
We had to turn down their invitation as we weren’t sure when we would get into our campsite. We arranged to meet up with them later that afternoon. Fortunately, when we arrived at Dead Horse, our campsite was open and we were able to set up camp before the official check-in time.
We then drove the 20 minutes into Sedona following my brother in law’s directions to a free parking lot. We had briefly entertained a hike but ultimately just wandered down the main street of the city, looking into the various shops. We just had enough time for prickly pear ice cream sundaes before my sister and her husband had to return to Phoenix.
Sedona feels like a port town after a cruise ship arrives and dumps thousands of tourists into a city that is organized around capturing their dollars. That’s a shame, because the region has some stunning vistas and incredible hiking opportunities. Yet the trailheads are usually jammed with cars.
The city runs a free shuttle system from a number of park-and-ride lots. The following morning, we parked in one of them, and hopped on the shuttle bus to hike to Devil’s Bridge. The natural stone bridge is probably the most famous of all Sedona hiking locations, and it’s accessed from any of a number of trailheads, all of which are notoriously busy.
The shuttle bus was a much less stressful way of getting there, even if it did require a short wait before and after our hike. Onboard, we heard a couple speaking in Ukrainian and introduced ourselves. They were from Chicago, and we spent some of our hike walking and talking with them.
From the Mescal Trailhead, we followed a moderate trail that gets steeper as it nears the bridge. There were hundreds of people going up and down the trails with us, and when we reached the bridge, there was an orderly system for getting a photo without the crowds. Each hiker or group of hikers waited in line for their turn, passing their phones to those waiting across from the bridge. That morning there was also a professional photographer taking pictures of each group on the bridge, then handing out cards with his contact info so you could claim your photo. He was asking only for a monetary donation of any amount if you wanted the photo. I’m not sure how long he was there, but checking his website later, he had hundreds of pictures from that morning. It seemed like a smart way to make good money.
On the other hand, the shots from our cell phone, taken by the Ukrainian couple we had met on the shuttle, seemed just as good to us. So we didn’t download his photo.
On the way back, I needed to answer the call of nature, and stepped off the trail to do so. As we often do in such situations, Mrs. 123 continued to hike down the trail knowing I’d soon catch up. On this occasion, we got our signals crossed. I hiked up the trail at least a mile and never saw her. At some point, I realized I must have passed her. Maybe she also took a side trip into the woods?
I rushed back to where we had initially split up, but again didn’t see her. At that point, I thought, well maybe she made really good time and got all the way back to the trailhead. I jogged most of the mile and a half back, but she wasn’t there.
So turned around again started back up the trail to where we had parted ways. About a half mile from the trailhead, I finally saw her. She had mistakenly turned onto another trail, and it took a fair amount of time to realize she had gone the wrong way. We ended up turning a 4-mile hike into a 6- to 7-mile hike, but other than that extra mileage, no harm was done.
The following day, we made the short drive from Dead Horse up into the mountains to the tiny mining village of Jerome. Built on a steep mountain slope, this former mining community was once dubbed “the Wickedest Town in the West.” Today, the saloons and brothels have been replaced with boutiques and coffee shops.
The main draw in Jerome, is the Jerome State Historic Park, the former family mansion of the Douglas Family which owned one of the major mines. The park shows an interesting movie about the boom and bust history of the town. Over the years, it seems like every building burned down at one point or another. The park has interesting displays about the mining efforts and the history of Jerome.
Next door, Audrey Headframe Park is the site of a 1,900-foot mining shaft — 650 feet taller than the Empire State Building — used to shuttle miners to the excavation areas. If you dare, you can stand overtop of the mine shaft on a glass cover and peer at the abyss below your feet.
We took a short walk down the main street of Jerome, including walking through an interesting kaleidoscope shop, before returning to our campsite.
From the Sedona area, you can see north to Mt. Humphreys which still had snow on it. I checked online and the Arizona Snowbowl was still operating. They were selling daily lift tickets for just $19 and full rental gear for another $19.
So I spent the following day skiing. The resort was definitely a lot smaller than what I was used to Colorado, and the conditions weren’t the best. I had to brush off my East Coast skiing skills to tackle the icy slopes in the morning. By midday, I was skiing on mashed potatoes. The resort also gave me a $10 credit for the restaurant, so I had a $10 hot dog for lunch.
I missed the entire ski season in Colorado as we had moved to Philadelphia to take care of my mom in August, and started our RVing trip in January. So it was nice to sneak in at least one day of skiing.
On our last day in Sedona, we hiked the Airport Mesa Trail. As the name implies, the trail hikes around the mesa on which the Sedona airport sits, providing nice views of the surrounding red rock.
Despite all the tourists, we really liked Sedona and agreed to put it on our list of places we wanted to come back to after our year of RVing was over.
Days: 99
Miles Traveled: 12,601
Next stop: Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
