Day 3 - Sedona - Tusayan, AZ

After grabbing some Starbucks we headed towards the Church of the Holy Cross, a Catholic church completed in 1956 and set directly into a red rock butte.  Even though it was fairly early, there were lots of other tourists as well and our visit was fairly brief as the building isn’t very big at all.  It did offer us a view of one of the church’s residential neighbors.

Next we turned north onto the Sedona–Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Road towards Flagstaff.  The road follows Oak Creek and after a series of hairpin turns, emerged from the canyon to offer a stunning viewpoint looking back south.

Our next stop was the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  The road northwest out of Flagstaff started with some piney woods and aspens mixed it (they hadn’t changed colors yet) and soon became very flat and barren.  After a brief wait to enter the park, we were soon closing in on Grand Canyon Village.  We decided to grab a quick lunch at the Harvey House Café located inside the Bright Angel Lodge and from our seats we were afforded our first views of the canyon.

Fully fed, we grabbed gear from the car and then walked along the Rim Trail, passing through the Lookout Studio and Kolb Studio, ending up at the Bright Angel Trailhead.  Several folks were still entering and exiting the canyon itself here as it was mid-afternoon.

The western side of the park is closed to private vehicles through October, so we caught the shuttle bus and soon made stops at Maricopa Point, Hopi Point, and Pima Point.  The canyon was somewhat obscured by haze due to pollution wafting in from Southern California, but as the sun began to lower, some really cool shadows emerged, highlighted by the haze.  We were also afforded our first view of the Colorado River at Hopi Point.

For sunset, we found a spot at Mohave Point (along with many other enthusiasts) to shoot the canyon walls.  No clouds were present so it wasn’t a “breathtaking” sunset, but a good one nonetheless.

After a short shuttle ride on a packed bus, we were back at our car and headed to Tusayan to check into our hotel for the evening, but we still had one more great adventure up our sleeve.  After settling in for a bit, we headed back to the South Rim and enjoyed a wonderful, late dinner at the El Tovar Dining Room.  Located in the historic El Tovar Hotel, the room is constructed of native stone and Oregon pine. There are murals on the walls that reflect four Native American Tribes – the Hopi, the Apache, the Mojave and the Navajo. While we didn’t see any celebrities or politicians while we ate, we were assured that guests such as Teddy Roosevelt, President Bill Clinton, and Sir Paul McCartney have dined and shared stories within these walls.  More Grand Canyon tomorrow before we head north into Utah.

Day 2 - Winslow - Sedona, AZ

We took the opportunity to have a slower morning today so after gassing up, we did a quick swing through downtown Winslow and then headed southwest on Arizona highway 87.  As we left town, the landscape quickly began to look like a typical desert, scrubby and sandy.  Eventually we gained elevation and entered the Coconino National Forest, where we got to experience following a pilot car on a one-way road on three separate occasions.  And of course, when you are stopped in line waiting your turn, you take photos!

After a turn onto Highway 260, we started down into Verde Valley.  The temperature went up and the haze increased.  We soon stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument, a five-story, 20 room cliff dwelling built by the Southern Sinagua Indians between 1100 and 1300.  American explorers in the 1800 erroneously assumed the people who built the dwellings were Aztecs from Mexico, so they attached Montezuma’s name to the monument.  Looting of the structure started in the early 1900s and by 1951 visitors were causing such damage that tours up to the dwelling were stopped.  Sadly, even now folks are vandalizing the site as we saw several Arizona sycamore trees whose trunks had been carved into.  The National Park Service had the tree trunks covered in a mesh that prevented the damage from being seen.  One of the more interesting trees we saw as a oneseed juniper.  The bark made an amazing pattern as it morphed around knots and eyes.

We turned north and jumped onto the Red Rock Scenic Byway en route to Sedona.  The red sandstone so synonymous with this area began to appear and soon great pullouts allowed us chances to see Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, Little Horse, and views of the valley to the north.  This truly is a geologist’s dream.

A short time later we were in downtown Sedona and found a great lunch spot called 89Agave Cantina.  For the remainder of the afternoon we drove around town, going up Airport Mesa to get a great overview of the town with Coffee Pot Rock and Capitol Butte in the background.  We didn’t hike to the well-known Airport Mesa vortex, but saw lots of folks headed that way.

For sunset, we took the Red Rock Loop Road and parked at Crescent Moon Picnic Site.   As we walked down to Oak Creek, Cathedral Rock came into view.  The setting sun lit up the rock so it appeared to glow.  As an added bonus, the moon happened to rise right from behind the rock formation, as if on cue.  A perfect ending to a perfect day for sure!  Tomorrow, we head north to the Grand Canyon.