Saguaros looked absolutely amazing (click here to see - Saguaro National Park - King Canyon and Gould Mine hike) but we
got toasted while hiking there. We also had other plans and wanted to
explore somewhere cooler, so the next day we drove north to explore the
Sedona area. Located at 4350 feet (shut up those who live in a mile high
city, I know how you feel about such silly elevation ;) ) Sedona offers a
pleasant coolness (compared to Phoenix). Known for its red sandstone
formations and vibrant colors...
Even though the temperature here was lower than in Phoenix, we were
still unsure of a long and heavy hike, so we decided on Cathedral Rock
trail. Relatively short, easy and beautiful and... we had no regrets.
Just look at the rock we were walking towards!
And the view down the valley was also astonishing. The combination
of red rocks, green leaves and red-ish roofs looked very attractive...
The trail weaved up between the rocks and our destination looked even more impressive as we got closer.
Honestly, we couldn't make our mind, which view we liked best, Cathedral Rock in the southwest or down the valley in the northeast...
Even hiking above the treeline we still saw a lot of greenery (but
mostly thorny plants). The trail can hardly be called boring...
At some point we looked down, trying to track a trail that brought
us nearly 1,000 feet above the starting point, and we were surprised to
see it - the path was well beaten by the soils of thousands of hikers
and was easy to find on the red stones.
On the way up, the trail made two sharp turns, marked with signs to keep people from falling off the cliffs.
Believe it or not, but we spend quite a lot of time here, sitting
on the warm rocks and looking down at Sedona. The view was absolutely
mesmerizing.
The Chapel of the Holy Cross was built in 1956 (look
at the bottom of the image to see it). What a pity we didn't have time
to visit it but... what about doing it virtually? Click here to learn
more about the Chapel - Chapel of the Holy Cross
Stairway to the stars... Actually, despite the fact the stairs were
steep, it wasn't the hardest part of our journey. Previously we had to
climb even steeper slopes without the help of steps... But this was the
last stretch of the path before we found ourselves on the edge of the
cliff overlooking the valley on the other side of the Cathedral Rock...
But before getting there we turned around to enjoy the valley that
we left just an hour ago. Now we can clearly see the road and the
parking lot at the trailhead...
Finally we stopped at the narrow isthmus separating two valleys...
The northwest valley looked just as incredible as the other... What a view...
It was the real end of the trail ;( so we had to turn around and
come all the way back... A little over three hours (two for hiking and
one for taking pictures and admiring the valley down below ;) )... just
over 4 miles and 1380 feet of elevation gain. And it wasn't as hot as
the day before! The temperature was actually around 75-80F there, which
was perfect (compared to the over 100F we experienced the previous day).
Click here to see the trail on Google Maps - Cathedral Rock Hike
Wanna to see something different? Click here - Jerome AZ, the town with a story...
Pictures were taken on May 01, 2023.
Looks like a perfect time of year to visit. I will have to add Sedona to my list! Thank you for sharing.
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