Sedona Area

Feb 26th

The shooting started at 7am from all around us this morning. Every space that could be used as a shooting range had people with guns. It felt extremely unsafe. I observed quite a few dangerous gun practices, and could hear the bullets ricocheting off of the canyon walls. We immediately packed up and left. As we did a group of men came over and waited for us to go, so they could use our site to shoot. It is such a shame that this beautiful public land is being abused so badly. Most of the groups leave all of their targets (bottles, cardboard, plastic containers) and shell casings all over the ground. On top of that, some of them use the ancient saguaro cacti as targets. We drove north, and found some USFS land just south of Sedona, called Rarick Canyon. We are camped on a mesa, with beautiful views. There are pockets of snow in places due to our heightened elevation. Once we had set up our site, we drove a couple miles south to Montezuma’s Castle National Monument, where we met the Canadian family. The site is an ancient cliff dwelling that has nothing to do with Montezuma. Both girls completed their junior ranger packet, then we all went back to our campsite. Margie and Shannon made dinner for us tonight. Sweet potato quesadillas, which were delicious.

Feb 27th

Margie, Shannon and Sequoia drove into Sedona after breakfast, and the three of us went for a hike to explore the USFS land we were camped on. We hiked down a road until it ended, then followed a game trail to the edge of a small canyon. It is so cool. The creek bed is all grey granite boulders, with occasional bright red boulders, white trunked sycamore trees growing everywhere, all surrounded by red canyon walls (the North facing walls had snow on them). After our hike, we came home for lunch, and then drove to Sedona, to meet the Canadians for a hike. There are no words to describe how beautiful the Sedona area is. The pictures attached can’t match it either. The entire valley has hiking trails, and there are a lot of people. It took us a while to find a parking spot at one of the trailheads. We hiked several short trails with spectacular views, then drove back home for dinner.

Feb 28th

We met the Canadians at another trailhead in Sedona this afternoon for another hike. Today’s hike was longer, and took us around to large rock formations, called “the Courthouse” and “the Bell”. Because it was longer, there were a lot fewer people on the trail. The views were spectacular. This was one or the best hikes we have been on.