(Oops! I got a little ahead of myself with that Death Valley post-lots to report between there and the Grand Canyon.)

Wednesday, April 26-Friday, April 28                                                                                   Oak Creek Canyon Pine Flats Campground

I had a chance to spend a few hours in Sedona several years ago and wanted to return.  We were driving through Oak Canyon, Arizona and passed a little campground with a vacancy.  What a gem!  We were camped right by a creek in a beautiful spot.  We were just 20 minutes from Sedona and the drive through the canyon to get there was lovely.

Up on the road there was artesian well that ran freely from a pipe. Cars stopped constantly, all day and all night, to fill up containers with the clear, good tasting water.  The campground host explained that people come from as far as Phoenix to get water that is drinkable.  Made me very grateful to live in a place where the water from our tap is plentiful and good.

Sedona is an interesting town.  It’s a spiritual destination for many people who come to experience the energy and healing of the Sedona vortices.  A vortex is a place where there is an unusual conflation of energy entering and leaving the earth. These places have been described all over the world at sites like the great pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge in England, and Machu Picu in Peru. Some may view this idea with skepticism, but it makes sense to me.

 

The town itself is full of interesting shops, restaurants, and health practitioners of all kinds.  It’s surrounded by magnificent red rocks.

 

Andy and I procured a map of the vortex sites from the visitor center in town and took two hikes based on what we learned.  The first hike was the West Fork trail along Oak Creek.

The other vortex was at Cathedral Rock.  We climbed about half way up and had a grand view.

Both these hikes left me feeling oddly wrung out, even though I appreciated the beauty of the sky and the stillness of the rocks as we walked and climbed.  We left a little shrine for Mike on Cathedral Rock.

I sat by the collection of stones, feathers, and flowers that I had gathered and looked out over the vista, missing my brother.

After the hikes we went to a lovely church built into the side of the mountain.  We sat in silence for a while and lit candles for Mike and Tricia.  We lit one for Andy’s late wife Leslie, too.  Later that evening as we sat by our campfire, the tiredness and sadness that had surrounded me was replaced by a sense of peace and comfort.  It had been a powerful day.  The vortex thing still makes sense to me.

And ps…my feet had been painful for several days; lots of hiking over rough terrain. My heels had deep cracks and looked pretty nasty.  I fished around in the first aid kit and found the bottle of Oil of Sol.  Mike recently concocted a batch of this based on his memory of an old time liniment that was used for cuts, burns, rashes, and other skin ailments.  I can’t reveal the recipe, but will say that it involves turpentine and linseed oil, among other things. I smeared some over the bleeding cracks and hoped it would help; I was starting to limp.  The next morning there was a marked improvement; the day after that the cracks were healed. Thanks Mikey!!