Sedona

Sedona is on my top 10 favorite places in the world for many reasons, and you should definitely consider making a trip here some day. Firstly, it’s incredibly beautiful. Pictures truly do not do this place justice. Its red rocks, blue skies, and plant life make this place a little heaven on earth.

Secondly, there’s so much to do here! There’s plenty of shopping, hiking, dining; take a Jeep tour around the town with Pink Adventure Tours; it’s even home to the only McDonalds in the entire world that does not have its iconic golden arches – its arches here are actually turquoise as to compliment the aesthetic of the red rocks.

And thirdly, Sedona is best known to be the sight of numerous vortexes, which are swirling centers of energy and are said to assist and promote healing, reflection, and enlightenment. I didn’t “feel” anything while we were here, but I find that being in nature is quite euphoric on its own. All of Sedona is considered a vortex, but there are four major vortex sites where the energy is said to be the strongest: Cathedral Rock, Airport Mesa, Bell Rock, and Boynton Canyon.

CATHEDRAL ROCK

Kyle and I hiked Cathedral Rock per a recommendation from a friend. This hike is rated as strenuous, as there are portions of the hike where you have to scale rocks to reach the top, so please use caution if you decide to do this hike. I would consider myself a decent hiker, but by no means an expert, and nor am I afraid of heights, but there were points along the way where I started to feel a bit uncomfortable. I was very grateful to be hiking with Kyle.

But once you get to the top, the views are worth every drop of sweat and nervous stress. It felt like a little haven up here, and I really didn’t want to leave. And as I mentioned earlier, it’s a vortex site!

AIRPORT MESA LOOP

The next hike we did was the Airport Mesa Loop. This is a 3 mile easy to moderate hike with very little elevation gain. Not only is this a vortex site, this hike offers some of the best views of almost every major red-rock landmark in Sedona. Kyle and I accidentally ended up veering off the trail by accident, but were luckily close enough to the fencing of the airport to easily find our way back to the main lookout. At the top of the mesa is the Airport Mesa Lookout, which is a popular spot to watch the sunrise and sunset. There’s a parking lot available, but it costs $3 and it fills up very quickly. So make sure you plan ahead.

View from Airport Mesa Lookout

View from Airport Mesa Vortex

Spending only one day in here is not nearly enough time to fully experience all that Sedona has to offer, and I’m already dreaming about coming back as soon as possible.