Having flown into Phoenix, our first order of business was to rent a car and drive up to the Grand Canyon, established as a National Park on February 26, 1919. We arrived at the park after dark heading for our lodging located on the South Rim of the canyon, the historic El Tovar Hotel. Opened in 1905, the hotel was designed by Charles Whittlesey, chief architect of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, to appeal to the elite of that era. It was built from local limestone and Oregon pine for a cost of $250,000 and at the time was considered the most elegant hotel west of the Mississippi River. In 1987 the hotel was designated a National Historic Landmark.
El Tovar Hotel - South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Located entirely in Northern Arizona, the park covers 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Recognized by many as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Colorado River has helped carve the Grand Canyon over the ages into one of the most complete records of geological history that exists anywhere in the world. The exposed geologic strata rises over a mile above the river. From the upper rim to the bottom, the canyon exposes a third of the earth’s geologic age (1.2 billion years in rock record) with nearly 40 identified rock layers forming the Grand Canyon’s walls. Most layers are exposed through the Canyon’s 277-mile length allowing studies of geologic evolution through time. The entire park area is considered a semi-arid desert, but distinct habitats exist at different elevations. The oldest human artifacts found date back nearly 12,000 years. Since that time, various cultures have occupied the lands that became the park. Since the El Tovar was located directly on the South Rim, we could walk out of the hotel back door and peer right down into the vastness of this incredible hole in the surface of the earth.
Grand Canyon off the South Rim
Sunrises and sunsets are particularly amazing over the canyon. This was my wife’s first visit to the Grand Canyon and she couldn’t wait to walk out the back door of the hotel and check out the Grand Canyon at sunrise. After breakfast we were ready to hike and see more of the canyon from the rim. A path wound for miles around the canyon rim which we took full advantage of. Only there for a couple of days, hiking down to the bottom of the canyon wasn’t on our agenda. Over the next two days we hiked the path around the canyon rim from the El Tovar in both directions.
On our last day there we made sure to walk the rim trail at sunset one last time. It was a beautiful day as the weather was perfect. There was much to see with the fading light over the canyon, including various structures built into the edge of the canyon wall. Lots of wildlife exists in the canyon, but we saw little of it while confining ourselves to just walking the rim trail. However, all of a sudden, we happened upon a desert bighorn sheep hanging out on a rock high above the canyon. One of the largest species of wildlife in the park, males can weigh up to 300 lbs. I have no idea how this large animal got up on this rock cliff. Apparently, the unique landscape found in the Grand Canyon provides remote refuges and an excellent habitat for this only non-reintroduced population of desert bighorn
We would have loved to hike down to the bottom of the canyon and the Colorado River, but unfortunately we don’t have the time or the gear to make the trip. We are trying to fit a lot more into one week. It was time to move on.
On the next leg of the trip, the plan was to drive down to the city of Flagstaff. Located in the high country mountains of northern Arizona, Flagstaff is a cool little college town with much history. It was first settled as the present day city in 1876 becoming a center for ranching, lumber mills and the railroad. Local businessmen lobbied for the famous Route 66 to pass through the city turning the local industry from lumber to tourism. Many of the buildings in the historic downtown area date to the early 1900’s. The Orpheum Theater, right outside our hotel, has offered the best in local and national artists, film screenings, and community events since 1917.
But the real reason we stopped in Flagstaff was to visit the Lowell Observatory. Established in 1894, it is one of the oldest observatories in the United States. It was at this observatory that the planet Pluto was discovered in 1930. It was also one of various observatories used to choose Moon landing sites for the Apollo missions. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965. Unfortunately, a visit from us was not to be. We happened to arrive on a week when the observatory was under renovations - bummer. The next morning we woke up to snow and strolled some of the quaint, interesting downtown area for coffee prior to our departure.
It was time to drive south to Sedona. We decided to take 89A through Oak Creek Canyon. Beautiful drive - it began in snow covered forests transitioning into towering cloud-covered canyons and then lush rain-coated valleys just outside Sedona. Not many places to stop on the side of the road, but it was easy to be mesmerized by the beauty of the scenery the entire way.
Arriving in Sedona, we headed through the main downtown area to our hotel - also on Arizona 89A. This is a beautiful small city - rugged red rock landscape everywhere, even outside our hotel room window. Many tourists come to Sedona to seek out its vortexes, “swirling centers of energy that invite self-discovery, meditation, and healing” - in other words, places in nature where the earth is exceptionally alive with energy. The area has long been considered a sacred spiritual place to the native Navajo and Hopi. We hadn’t planned to visit Sedona for the vortexes, but for the beautiful scenery and hiking experiences. However, we would keep an open mind.
Starving when we arrived, we headed to the Mesa Grill, adjacent to the Sedona airport. After a late lunch, we hiked down a few hundred yards to the Airport Mesa. Beautiful view on a cloudy day of the valley below with the Sedona red rocks in the distance. I didn’t feel any vortex vibrations, but there were plenty more sites in this city to explore, particularly when we headed up into some of the many hiking trails surrounding this city.
The next morning, we left the hotel to do some hiking in search of some of these famous vortexes. One such famous vortex is The Chapel of the Holy Cross. Easy to drive to, the parking was close and didn’t require much of a hike up the hill. The Roman Catholic chapel was commissioned by a local rancher and sculptor, Marguerite Brunswick Staude. She first attempted to build the chapel in Budapest, Hungary. However this effort was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War II. Her inspiration finally came to fruition as the chapel was finally built into the red rock buttes of Sedona from 1954 to 1956. Cool little chapel - but in my estimation, there was one unsettling feature. At the front of the chapel near the altar, if one stands in two designated footprints on the floor and looks up, it appears that Jesus is staring at you from the cross with x-ray eyes. OK, to me, this qualified as creepy vortex energy - like maybe Jesus was looking into your soul and deciding whether you were a candidate for heaven or hell.
After that unsettling spiritual confrontation, it was time to move on. Although The Chapel of the Holy Cross was crowded, the remaining vortex sites we planned to hike this day were not. Even though Sedona would be our home base for the rest of the trip, we had to be selective on our choice of which of the endless trails in Sedona to hike. We could only hit a few in the short time we had. Much beauty, red rocks, and dry heat, but none of the bursts of tingling spiritual vortex energy promised in the marketing literature. Maybe you have to suspend disbelief, talk to a yogi, and spend more time here to get that.
As it turned out, though, the next day would turn out to be the highlight of the trip. Originally, when planning the trip, the Grand Canyon and Sedona were to be the focus of our trip. My wife, in a discussion with a friend, heard how special Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon were. Up near Page, Arizona on the Navajo Nation lands, these sites are closer to the Grand Canyon than Sedona. But we had already booked our hotel reservations. We decided to take the day and make the long drive anyway. An excursion into the Antelope Canyon can only be accessed by a guided tour with a Navajo-authorized guide service. We had booked a midday tour to the Upper Antelope Canyon to take advantage of the favorable light conditions. We left Sedona early so we could visit Horseshoe Bend prior to our scheduled tour.
Horseshoe Bend is located 5 miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell - about 4 miles southwest of Page, Arizona. The U.S. National Park Service website states, “Around 5 million years ago, the Colorado Plateau uplifted and the meandering rivers that crossed the ancient landscape were trapped in their beds. Over time, the rivers cut through the uplifted layers of sandstone.” This resulted in the erosion of up to a mile of overlying sediments. Sandstone forms the entire depth of the canyon walls at Horseshoe Bend. Here the Colorado River created a “roughly 1,000 ft (305 m) deep, 270º horseshoe-shaped bend in Glen Canyon.” After paying a fee to enter the parking lot, the hike to the overlook is an easy 1.5 miles round-trip. The walk to the overlook was worth the effort. The combination of the sandstone, water and wind erosion over millions of years has created a unique place in the middle of a desolate landscape.
But the real treat was to come at Antelope Canyon. After completing the short hike at Horseshoe Bend, we drove the short distance (less than 10 miles from Page east of Lechee, Arizona) to the jumping off point for our Navajo Upper Antelope Canyon tour. This slot canyon can only be visited through guided tours, partially due to the fact that rain falling miles away during the monsoon season can quickly rush through and flood it. Our tour guide loaded us into the back of an open-air truck for the few mile trip to the canyon entrance.
Antelope Canyon was formed over millions of years by erosion of the Navajo sandstone due to flash flooding and physical weathering processes. “Over time the passageways eroded away, deepening the corridors and smoothing hard edges to form characteristic ‘flowing’ shapes.” As luck and planning would have it, we arrived at the entrance at the right time of year and day. OK, we are finally in vortex mode, but a long way from Sedona. Light spilled from above into the slot canyon interior, creating more incredible sights than could be imagined. I kept falling behind our group, taking photos, feeling those spiritual vibrations, and dumbfounded by the beauty that nature and the landscape had created - a natural art gallery. The tour only took an hour or so, but it was worth every minute. Back in the car, we started our long drive back to Sedona. Tomorrow was to be the last day of our trip.
Sedona is promoted as a world-class city for wellness and spiritual enlightenment. We didn’t go to any spas or consult any healers, but we did take advantage of more hiking trails and checked out much of the local art. Good restaurants here - our meals were all good. Before I forget, I have to give one special shoutout to a place where we really did feel the Sedona Vortex. The cleverly named ‘Sedonuts’ had the best donuts I have ever eaten. We had to hit that place multiple times. The weather was beautiful on our last day.
As the moon set over Sedona, we retired for the night ending a great trip to Northern Arizona. This area of America is well worth a visit and would take more time than we had to fully appreciate. But the week that we had and the beautiful sites we experienced were well worth it.
Sedona at Night